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Digitized by the Internet Archive 
in 2011 with funding from 
The Library of Congress 



http://www.archive.org/details/glimpsesofeuropeOOhose 



GLIMPSES OF EUROPE 



OR 



NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 



BY 



J 



A MERCHANT. 




CINCINNATI: 

RICKEY, MALLORY AND COMPANY. 

1859. 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1S58, by 
RICKEY, MALLORY & CO., 
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, for the Southern 
District of Ohio. 






Wrightson & Co., Printers, 
167 Walnut Street. 









PREFACE. 



This volume is really what its name indicates, 
"Notes Drawn at Sight," the sketches and letters 
from which it is composed being all written on the 
spot, during a late brief tour in Europe. 

Written hastily, many of them in a carriage, while 
passing through Italy and Switzerland, they may be 
superficial — and being upon subjects which have been 
seen and described so often before, no great claim 
to originality can be made for them ; nevertheless 
each new tourist sees objects with a new eye, and 
thus, as from a different stand point, receives differ- 
ent impressions. 

The author has dedicated his work to the mer- 
chants of Cincinnati, first, because it is chiefly at 
the request of many of their number that it is 
published at all; secondly, in the hope that he may 
impart to them a portion of the pleasure he has 
himself derived from visiting the storied scenes 
of the Old World ; and thus seeing how much enjoy- 
ment and instruction may be so easily purchased, 
they may also be induced 

" To turn a moment from the dry dust of weary life." 



TO TEE MEECHAIT 



OF CINCINNATI, 



THESE NOTES ARE RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED, 



BY 

ONE OF THEIR NUMBER 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 
Departure from New York — Farewell, 9 

CHAPTER II. 

Life on the Ocean — Half seas over — A Whale — The lost Bird — Chalked at 
Sea — The Scotch Pony — Steeple Chase — Sunday on board Ship — Stormy 
Petrel— Ireland, 13 

CHAPTER III. 

Liverpool — First Nisrht on Shore — Docks — English Hotels — London Life — An 
Irish Countess— St. Paul's and its Monuments, ----- 22 

CHAPTER V. 

The Thames— Steamers— Tunnel— The Tower— Crystal Palace at Sydenham, 
British Museum— A Scottish Chieftain— Grand Entree into France. - - 31 

CHAPTER IY. 
Paris and its Sicrhts — Grand Review— Pere la Chaise— Tomb of Napoleon 
and Hotel des Invalides, - - 49 

CHAPTER YI. 

Sunshine in Paris— The Morgue— A Suicide — Pont Neuf— Washing and Bath- 
ing Houses — Notre Dame — Hotel Dieu — Hotel de Yille— Column of July — 
M ulelaine — Column of Nanoleon — Boulevards — Palais Royal — Cafes — 
Trois Freres Provencenux— Fontainbleau — The Wine Districts of France — 
The Sa one— The Rhone— The Oidium— Lyons— The Castled Rhone— Avig- 
non the former Seat of the Popes ------..49 

CHAPTER VII. 

Marseilles— The Quay— Greek Women— Babel — Hotel De Bristol — Hotel 
Charges— Cafe Chantant — Italian Steimer — Chateau d'lf — Corsica — Elba 
— Monte Christo — Italian Cuisine— Dinner — Savory Compounds — Italian 
Mode of eating Macaroni — Civita Vecchia-- First sight of Vesuvius— Islands 
and Bay of Naples— The Beautiful City— Hotel Yittoria— San Gennaro— 
Campo Santo — Grotto di Posillippo — Tomb of Virgil — Catacombs, - 5 9 

CHAPTER VIII, 
San Carlo — Violin played by Ladies — Italian Pantomime — Vesuvius awake 
— The Hermit ige— Monte Somma — Outline of the Mountain— Spartacua 

— Perilous Ascent of Vesuvius — River of Fire — Alarm — Buono Mano, or 
Drink Money — A Valley of Molten Lava — An authenticated Volcano — 
Lacrima Cristi -Fright— Return — Liberality — Hell — Museo Borbonico — 
Sights of Naples — Pompeii — Herculaneum — Temple of Jupiter — House 
of Castor and Pollux — Amphitheater, -------57 

CHAPTER IX. 

La Cava — Landscapes of Claude — Catching pigeons — Appenines — The blue 
Mediterranean — Romantic ride — Amain — Beggars — The St. Nicholas — Mar- 
sala — Sovereigns of America — Travellers 1 Book — Political spies — Mariners' 
Compass — Salerno — Medical School — Railroads built without wheelbarrows 
— Silarus of the Greeks — Crassus and Spartacus— Ruins of Paestum — Its 
Origin — Roses of Paestum — Nocera — The vine— Castellamare — The An- 
cient Stabiae— Pliny the Elder, .*_„_.-_ 79 



VI CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER X. 

Sorrento — View of the Bay of Naples — Islands — Olive Trees — Orange Groves 
— Hotel des Sirens — The Home of Tasso — Grotto Azzura — Fairy Scene — 
The Sirens — Ears stopped — Lucky escape — Poetical story of Ulysses — 
Gardens of Tasso — A Pei-tinacious Friar — The D — 1 outwitted — English 
"■is Spook" — Naples Illuminated — Illumination of Vesuvius, 89 

CHAPTER XI. 

The Solfat^ra — Pandemonium — Lake Avernus — Pozzuoli— Cumai — Baie — 
Temple of Jupiter Serapis — Land of flowers — Lucrine oysters — Italian cu- 
pidity — A funeral — A wedding — Vesuvius by night — San Gennaro the Pa- 
tron Saint — Lava extended — Vineyards destroyed — A Sea of Fire — A fiery 
Niagara— Pyrotechnics of the Gods — Young America on Vesuvius — An 
Alarm— Escape— Safety, 100 

CHAPTER XII. 

A decaying Nation — The Appian Way — Capua— The Formian Villa of Cicero 
— His Tomb — Brigands — Robbery in the mountains of Itri — Lost luncheon 
— Fondi — Countess Gonzas;a — Terracina — The Palace of Theodoric — Pon- 
tine Marshes — Augustan Canal — Long horned Roman cattle — Appii Forum 
— Sacred ground — Albano — Roman Campagna— Aqueducts, - - 110 

CHAPTER XIII. 

Rome — The study of years — Forum — Triumphal Arches — Baths of Cara- 
calla— Palace of the Caesars — Pantheon— Tarpeian Rock — Coliseum Re- 
flections — Fountain of Egeria — An Echo — Egeria's Hair, - 122 

CHAPTER XIV. 

The Vatican— Staircase of Bernini— Galleria Lapidaria— Museo Chairamonte 
— Cupid of Praxiteles— Niobe— Hercules — Demosthenes — Laocoon — Apol- 
lo Belvidere— Hall of the Muses— Etruscan vases— The frescoes of M. 
Angelo— Last Judgment— An anecdote— The Stanze of Raphael — The Log- 
gie of Raphael — Guido's Madonna — Raphael's Transfiguration — Statue of 
Aurelius— Venus of the Capitol — Pictures of the Capitol— Doves of Pliny- 
Rome the mother of Art— St. Peter's — St. John Lateran — Scala Santa — 
Blood of Christ — Pilgrims ascending on their knees— Catholic supersti- 
tion — A procession— The Pope— Christianity of the bayonet— Harriet Hos- 
mer — Whitrid»-e — Tivoli — Hadrian's Villa — Newly discovered tombs — 
Keats and Shelley— " Writ in water," 129 

CHAPTER XV. 

Flaminian Way— Etruscan towns — Castelbano — Gasperoni the bandit — His 
p r .; son — Terni— Falls of Velino — Clitumnus — Temple of Diana — The fabled 
water— Milk white steers — Etruria — Olive planta'ions — Assises — Miracu- 
lous roses— Church of St. Mary of the angels— Perugia— Etruscan gateway 
— Lake Thrasymene— Battle between Hannibal and the Romans— Little 
inconveniences— Post Books— The Sanguinetto— Tuscany— Arezzo— Pe- 
trarch— Florence, - - - - 142 

CHAPTER XVI. 

Beautiful Florence— The Arno— Drive on the Cascine— Heart Exchange- 
Floras— Carriages searched — Hiram Powers — Statue of America — Apathy 
of Republics— Capitol of Ohio— Uffixi gallery — Venus de Medici— Wrest- 
lers— L'Arrotino— Niobe and her children— Raphael's Fornarina— Titian's 
Venus— Master pieces — Bronzes — Pitti Palace — Wax Models— Duomo — 
Campanille— Gates of Paradise— Santa Croce, ----- 153 



CONTENTS. Vll 



CHAPTER XVII. 

Vettuvini — Benyamino — Appenines — Pass of La Futa — Bologna — Leaning 
Towers — Oollonade — Pine Arts — Church of St. Dominick, the Founder of 
the Inquisition — University of B)!>gna — STemale Professors — Laura Bassi 
— Madonna Manzolin a — Matilda Tainbroni — Novella d 1 Andrea, the beauti- 
ful Canonist— King Hensius--Lucia Vendiglio— Properzia de Rossi — 
Puppy D)gs and Sausages — Po and Adige Rivers — Ferrara — Ariosto — 
Tasso's Dungeon— John Calvin — Ugoand Paras ina — Effect of Levees on 
the Po — Padua— Frescoes of Giotto — I'alace of the blind Doge Dandolo, - 163 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

Venice — Gondolas — Canals — House of Othello — Bianca Capello — Shylock — 
Infamous pillar — Banco Giro— Guidecca — Life blood — Winged lion of St. 
Mark — Saint Theodore — Basilica — Its columns— Bronze horses — Ducal Pa- 
lace — Council of Ten — Lions mouth — Bridge of sighs — Prisons — Hall of 
the Doges — Canova's tomb — Moonlight, ------ 176 

CHAPTER XIX. 

Verona— Tomb of Juliet — Houses of the Montague and Capulet — The Bal- 
cony — The Adige — Milan — Lake of Como — Villa of Count Ta vernal-Storm 
amongst the mountains — Lake Lugano — Maggiore — Isola Bella. - 188 

CHAPTER XX. 

Bavino — Tosa River — Domo d'Ossola — Trouting amongst the Alps — A 
Piscatorial mystery — The Problem solved — A miss — A cold duck — The 
Simplon Pass— Gallery of Gondo — Cascade of the Frascinnone — The top — 
Hospice — Houses of refusre — Fourth of Julv — Toasts and song— Brieg — 
The Rhone— Martigny— Tete Noire— The Valais -The Col. de Forclaz— 
Hard ride— French leave— Ascent of Montanvert— Mer de glace— Diligence — 
Frost formation, ----------- 195 

CHAPTER XXI. 

Geneva — Calvin — St. Peter's — Champ de Bourreau— Martyrdom of Servetus 
— Lake Lenian — Arve — Lausanne — Ferney— Clarens — Castle of Chillon. . 
Dungeons — The Oubliette — Ladies chamber — Romantic conclusions des- 
troyed — Villeneuve — Novel mode of trout fishing, - 209 

CHAPTER XXII. 

Freybnrg — The longest suspension bridge in the world — Musical storm — The 
liberty tree — Berne — Its Bears — Clock — Minster — Libel on Bruin — The 
patron saint of the Queen City — Bernese ladies — Federal house — Freiheit — 
Interlachen — Lauterbrunen — Staubach fall — Grindenwald — Glaciei — Ava- 
lanche — Alpine horn — Beggars and flowers — Sunset in the mountains, - 221 

CHAPTER XX III. 

Lakes Thun and Brienz — Alpine Village— Lucerne — Chapel of William Tell 
— Grutli — The Fountain Head of Liberty — Kussnacht — Rigi — Charivari — 
Drowning the Music — The Waterspout — Fair Zurich's Waters — The fall of 
the Rossberg — The Specter of the Rigi — Robbery — Monument to Swiss 
Guards — Benyamino's Adieu — Ex President Fillmore — Heidelberg Castle — ■ 
Elizabeth Stewart — Millenium — Olympia Morata — Enchantress Jeta — Ba- 
den Baden— Frankfort— Rothschilds— Statue of Ariadne., - - - 037 



Vlll CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 



Wiesbaden — The spring — Chicken soup — Bathing — Kursall — Lady gamblers 
A novice — Roulette— Faro — 49.000 francs lost — Despair — Rhine — The 
boats — Rheingen — Johannisberg — Markobrunner — Brrmserburg Castle — 
Gisela — Bingen — Bishop Ilatto — Basket vineyards — Pfalz — Seven sisters 
in stone — Lurlei — An accident — Coblentz — Stolzenfels — Ehrenbreitstein — 
Blue Moselle— French Monument — Tables turned, ----- 255 

CHAPTER XXV. 

Rolandseck — The Seven Mountains — Drachenfels — Bonn — Cologne — A 
Squeers — The veritable Jean Maria Farina — More Richmonds in the field — 
Cathedral of Cologne— Skulls of the Magi— Church of St. Ursula— 11,000 
virgins — Legend — (5,000 martyrs — The horses in the chamber — Buried alive 
— Birthplace of Reubens — Railroad President— Politeness — Dusseldorf— 
Cemeteries — Impedimenta— Storks — Happy Omen — Holland — Amsterdam 
— Causeways — Canals— Currents — Merchants — Cure for Vagrancy — Char- 
itable Institutions — Water Works — Paintings — Suspect — Dutch Courage. 271 

CHAPTER XXVI. 

Sunday — Nieuwe Kirk — Vuur Stoof— Spions— Curiosity of the Sex— Droog- 
erigens-^Amspreker — Picturesque Boats — North Holland— The Y — Great 
Ship Canal— Polders — The lowest country in the world — World turned 
upside down — Boreas and Neptune at war— Windmills — Broek, the cleanest 
town in the world — A town without a street — Singular custom — Cleanliness 
Sea dykes— Dunes— Saardam, Peter the Great — Gondolas— Don Quixotte— 
Schelde— Antwerp— Paintings— Reuben's Elevation and Descent from the 
Cross— Calvary— Cathedral steeple— Ahead of time— Quay— Exchange, - 283 

CHAPTER XX\ r II 

Mechlin— Brussels— Waterloo— Officious guides— The chateau of Hougou- 
mont— Relics— Making lace— Paris— Versailles— Great and little Trianons 
— Fontainbleau — Forest — Luxembourg— Paintings — Louvre— Reubens — 
Murillo's Conception— Gobelin tapestry— Hotel de Cluny— London by gas 
lia-Ht — Westminster Abbey— Poet's corner— Shakspeare's epitaph— House 
of Parliament— Parks of London— Rotten Row— National gallery— Wind- 
sor Castle — Runneymede — Stoke Pogis— Gray's elegy — Gray's tomb — 
Windsor Park — Spurgeon, -------- 306 

CHAPTER XXVIII 

Warwick Castle— The Avon— Kenilworth— Guy's cliff legend— English land- 
scape— Manchester— Lancasshire— Iron region— York Minster — Edinboro' 
—The Castle— John Knox— Holyrood— Stirling Castle— Bannockburn— 
Grampian hills— Ben Lomond— Tam O'Shanter— Auld brigo'doune— Dun- 
ipace hills— Robert Spital the tailor— Camhusmore— A Highland burn— 
Bridge built for sixteen shillings— Beneledi— The bonny Highland hea- 
ther— Coilantogle ford— The Fiery cross— Brigg o' Turk— Legend of 
Glenfilas— Hotel of Trosachs - 319 

CHAPTER XXIX. 

The Trosachs— Loch Katrine— Ellen's Isle— Ben-ledi— Ben-a' an— Benvenue 
Coir-nan Uriskin— Beal-ach-nam-bo— Braes of Balquidder— Loch Lomond 
— Inversnaid — Rob Rov— Ben Lomond— The McGregors — Dunbarton 
Castle— Glasgow— John Knox— Burking— Salt Market— Clyde— Belfast- 
Ireland— The Low back'd Car— The Omadhauns— Giant's Causeway— 
Ossian— Dunluce Castle— Dublin— Lord Palmerston— Conway Castles- 
Chester— The Rows— Statue of Nelson— Departure— Conclusion. - 340 



CHAPTER I. 

Departure from New York — Farewell. 

April 28, 1858. 

Having taken passage on Steamer Africa, we 
unmoored to-day at 5 P. M., fired our guns, waived 
a brief parting to our kind friends on shore, and are 
at last really off for Europe : and as the pilot leaves 
us at " blue water," and will take back our last greet- 
ings to the friends we leave behind us, I proceed to 
give you a penciling up to the latest moment of our 
ability to perform the same ; for, judging from the 
rollers which are even now meeting us, the effects 
of a recent north-easter, I shall have no stomach 
for writing again, for a fortnight, at least. 

We have nearly 150 passengers, many ladies ; but 
as yet I see no familiar faces, and I think we are the 
only representatives of the Queen City on board. 

Already I begin to realize the truth of the old 

song, " A ship is a thing that no man can be quiet 

in." The poet might have added, nor woman 

either, for such confusion of boxes and trunks, 

small stores and ship stores, stewards running, 
2 (9) 






10 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

servants grumbling, men swearing, and women (shall 
I say it ?) scolding, surely never was heard else- 
where, out of Babel. However, they will soon, like 
babies, be rocked into quiet — that's a consolation. 

The patient looking little "Durham," the lacteal 
institution of the ship, occupies a snug little state 
room amidships, and looks out of her parlor window 
unmoved at the hurly-burly around her. 

She seems the only composed personage on board 
and chews her cud in solemn silence, casting a des- 
pairing glance, occasionally, upon the crowd of pas- 
sengers which throngs the decks, thinking, doubtless, 
impossibilities are impossibilities, and that some of 
us will have to submit to the New York substitute 
for "Orange county" — chalk and water — before 
reaching old England. 

We have our places assigned us at table, which 
we retain for the passage ; but the chairs, fastened 
to the floor, table ditto, with a strip all round the 
edge to keep the plates on ; decanters and glasses 
suspended over the same — all give " dreadful note 
of preparation," and are ominous, that we, at least, 
shall u eat but little here below, nor keep that little 
long." 

It is said that in drowning, at the last moment, all 



FAREWELL. 11 

the events of one's life pass in rapid review before 
the mind. In some respects a departure across the 
ocean to a foreign country resembles this. Then it 
is, while gazing upon the fading shores of our native 
land, we recall in imagination the many friends we 
are leaving, and thinking of their oft repeated kind- 
nesses, solemnly resolve to reform our sins of omis- 
sion and commission, should we be permitted to 
return to them, and to cherish them more dearly 
than ever. 

But the time is up ; the pilot is ready to leave us ; 
and as we gaze upon the lessening shore, we recall 
to mind those beautiful lines of the lamented Hugh 
Peters, who was drowned while bathing in the Ohio 
river, at Cincinnati, about twenty-two years ago. I 
have never so fully felt their poetic truth before. 
I quote from memory : 

"And now you've shrunk to yon blue line, 
Betwixt the sky and sea, 
I feel, sweet Home, that thou art mine — 
I feel my bosom, cling to thine ; 
That I am part of thee — 
I see thee blended with the wave, 
As children see the earth 
Close up a sainted mother's grave ; 
They weep for her they can not save 
And feel her holy worth. 



12 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

Farewell, my native land, farewell! 
That wave has hid thee now; 
This rending pang — would I could tell 
What ails this throbbing brow. 
One look upon that fading streak 
Which binds yon western sky, 
One tear to cool my burning cheek, 
And then one word — I can not speak. 
My native land — Good Bye !" 

With the pilot goes the last visible link that binds 
us to our country. But those invisible links, those 
" hooks of steel," which neither time nor distance 
nor principalities nor powers, nor any living thing 
can disturb, remain to draw us strongly back again 
to home and our native land. 



CHAPTER II. 

Life on the Ocean — Half seas over — A Whale — The lost Bird — 
Chalked at Sea — The Scotch Pony — Steeple Chase — Sunday 
on board Ship — Stormy Petrel — Ireland. 

We are nearly two thousand miles away, upon the 
broad Atlantic, breasting gallantly the billows of a 
strong south-easter, and, as it is a rainy day, which 
precludes the enjoyment of the deck, I am per se 
forced to recollect my promise, made at parting, to 
write you. Besides, having escaped that delightful 
episode in a sea-voyage, the " mal de mer," I am fully 
impressed that I have discovered an antidote which 
would make the fortune of our friend " S." by en- 
abling him to insure against sea sickness, as well as 
the " dangers of the sea." Let me, however, here 
admit that I do not claim entire originality in the 
principle involved, as you recollect Napoleon's motto 
was, " Never let the troops remain idle." 

But what can I say to you of a sea voyage that 

has not been said and sung a thousand times. Like 

the kaleidoscope, however, which presents a different 

(13) 



14 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

picture at every turn, the sea impresses but few 
alike. 

Some find it a waste of waters, separating two 
interesting shores, and a voyage across the Atlantic, 
but a highly monotonous ferriage. To me, how- 
ever, it is never monotonous. Heaving gently in 
the calm, or lashed by old Boreas into fury, the sea 
is ever an interesting study, and I spend hours with 
no other employment than gazing over its vast ex- 
panse. 

Of course we saw a whale, or inferred one from 
the spouting ; but very small specimens sometimes 
spout hugely on shore — why not at sea ? No land 
spouter, however, ever brought down the house with 
half the furor that this king of spouters brought up 
the cabin. All rushed on deck, but at the moment 
when he might have created a sensation — presto ! he 
sank, like many of his prototypes on shore, leav- 
ing not a bubble to mark the spot where he went 
down. 

Then that inevitable "lost bird of the ocean," that 
" hawk" came on board of us, when some five hun- 
dred miles out, perching himself on the top of our 
foremast, (as is his custom,) where he rested awhile, 
and then sailed away, to astonish and delight other 



SPORTS OF TEE DECK. 15 

" land lubbers." We unanimously pronounced bim 
the " Flying Dutchman," and looked anxiously under 
his wing for that "letter" but saw, with the aid of 
our opera glasses, only a feather. 

The sympathies of the ladies of our party for this 
poor wanderer, found expression in various poetical 
recollections. " The sea bird hath flown to his nest," 
"Noah's weary dove, for whose foot no resting place 
was found," etc.; but from his airy perch our visitor 
looked cunningly down, evidently thinking " all in 
my eye." 

Then the sports of the deck in which the sailors 
were allowed to engage on Saturday afternoons, in 
fair weather, amused and interested us. An oar is 
suspended by one end to the rigging, the other rest- 
ing on deck ; on the upper end a cap is hung, which, 
a sailor poising himself tailor-wise upon the oar, 
and supported by a cane which he rests on the 
deck, attempts dexterously to knock off between the 
rolls of the vessel, but as soon as he raises the 
cane the swaying motion of the ship unhorses 
him instantly: this is called "riding the Scotch 
pony." The " steeple chase " is another amusing 
scene. Several ropes are stretched across the deck, 
about two feet above it, when the racers start on all 



16 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

fours, like so many bears, jumping the ropes succes- 
sively ; of course the goal is not reached without 
many a tumble, to the infinite mirth of the crowd of 
passengers who gather forward to witness the sport. 

We have a model captain, a " Jolly Scot" — Capt. 
Shannon, a thorough sailor and true gentleman. I 
am indebted to a friend for a personal introduction, 
by which our situation on the ship has been rendered 
more agreeable. Such a Captain would naturally 
call around him pleasant and efficient officers and 
a good crew ; hence we witness thorough and cheer- 
ful subordination — gentlemanly conduct, and atten- 
tion to the minutest wishes of the passengers, and 
that apparent regard for the humanity of the sailor 
so seldom accorded to him on shipboard. 

Do you know what it is to be " chalked ?" I am 
aware your " hat is often chalked" but do you know 
what it is to be chalked at sea ? This morning a 
I party of us went forward to gaze over the bows, at 
our gallant vessel pressing her eager way through 
the waves, imagining in the depths below — Mermaids, 
Tritons, Neptunes, and other denizens of that mys- 
terious and unknown great deep, that aqua incognita, 
whose " dark unfathomed caves" we have no present 
desire to investigate. While thus absorbed we were 



CHALKED AT SEA. 17 

suddenly "chalked," that is 9 a line chalked on deck 
behind us, across which we could not pass, according 
to nautical courtesy, without paying Jack our initia- 
tion fee ; for this is his kingdom, his quarter deck, 
his sacred and holy mosque, which no vain intruder 
from terra firma can enter without falling under 
Jack's ire, only to be appeased by a handsome con- 
tribution to his tobacco box, or his grog. A few 
shillings slipped into the hands of this inexorable 
king of the forecastle, removed the cordon, and we 
were thenceforth admitted to all the honors, fore and 
aft, with a tip of Jack's tarpaulin and a " mornin, 
your honor," whenever we met him afterward in our 
rounds. 

But wo be unto the unlucky landsman, who ven- 
tures upon this forbidden ground when old Neptune 
is fairly awake and brushing up his foamy whiskers. 
A cataract of brine dashed into his face to cool his 
prying curiosity, would be the least punishment in- 
flicted for his temerity in invading this region sacred 
alone to the jealous god and his attendant sons of 
the sea ; and if he be not dashed back to his cabin 
aft among the " land lubbers " with the power of a 
Niagara and at the cost of a broken limb or a bruised 
head, it is to be attributed more to the compassion- 



18 • NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

ate nature of the mighty king, than to any lack of 
ability to execute his vengeance. 

Sunday on board ship. The bell tolls the hour of 
service, Jack arrayed in his best " toggery," blue 
flannel shirt faced white — with the naval letters of 
the service worked upon the bosom, looking brawny 
and manly, musters aft in the cabin saloon with the 
passengers, to hear the Episcopal church service 
read by the Captain, with appropriate selections 
from the Scriptures, by the Surgeon and others. 
Responses are uttered by the crew and passengers, 
books being furnished on the long dining table in the 
saloon, and the whole service is very impressive. 
There is no time, perhaps, when one feels so sensibly 
his daily and entire dependence on the Divine being 
who " stills the tempest, and who holds the sea in 
the hollow of his hand '* as when tossing upon the 
treacherous depths of the ocean, thousands of miles 
away from any succor which man can render. Then 
we feel indeed that " God alone is our refuge and 
strength, a very present help in time of trouble." 
This custom of the English ships to hold divine service 
upon the Sabbath, as a part of the regulations, is 
worthy of all commendation, and without doubt ex- 
ercises a beneficial influence on the service. 



STORMY PETRELS. 19 

The system of the ship goes on with the beautiful 
regularity of her engines, at all hours, day and 
night, and in all weather. The bell is struck every 
half hour by the officer of the deck aft, and answered 
by the bell forward, accompanied at night by the 
cheering "All's well" of the forward watch. The 
log is thrown at stated intervals during the day, and 
our progress carefully noted, and in fair weather our 
position is taken by the quadrant, and latitude and 
longitude recorded. During the fog, which we en- 
countered as usual while crossing the longitude of 
the " Banks," the steam whistle was sounded every 
five minutes, the boats unhoused at night and pre- 
pared for any emergency, and every precaution taken 
to guard against accident and to secure safety. 

Those strange little birds, the Stormy Petrels, 
have been following and sailing around us all day, 
giving, as the " old salts " of the cabin say, sure in- 
dications of a coming storm. They skim the waves 
like swallows, and seem to exist here in mid-ocean 
as in their proper element, their home, probably 
never visiting land, their nests the foaming billow, 
their resting place the stormy deep. They seem, 
truly enough, to be the precursors of a "blow," for 
with the night comes a south-easter. It is fair for 



b 



20 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

our course, however, and our main, fore and top 
sails are spread, the ship pitches through the waves, 
covering herself with spray, as with a garment, and 
our thinned ranks at meal time give evidence of the 
increasing motion of the vessel.^ 

There is no grander sight than, placing one's self 
upon the outer verge of the lee wheel-house, which, 
extending far out from the hull, seems to separate one 
from the flying vessel, and there behold her forcing 
her giant bows through the eager and mad waves which 
rise up constantly before her, as if to bar her onward 
way. With the power of steam and sail she madly 
leaps from wave to wave, dashing them aside and scat- 
tering the spray in pearly drops over hull and rigging, 
borne by the gale from stem to stern. At night sur- 
rounded with a halo of phosphorescent light and with 
her luminous train extending far into the gloom be- 
hind, she resembles a comet skimming along the sur- 
face of the ocean. But they say she " pitches horri- 
bly," and many whose stomachs were supposed sea- 
proof are to-day under hatches. My "catholicon" 
would, of course, at once relieve them ; but what pro- 
phet was ever honored in his own country ? — so they 
run to the surgeon,who prescribes champagne at eight 
shillings a pop. His prescriptions, or his agreeable 



MEKRIE ENGLAND. 21 

manners, or both, have rendered him quite popular 
with the fair sex ; and, indeed, among the arduous du- 
ties of the profession which he fills with great ability, 
that of entertaining our fair lady passengers seems to 
be by no means the least. This gallantry, however, is 
a feature of the ship, and doubtless arises in a measure 
from the chivalric devotion which all Englishmen feel, 
especially those in the service, for their fair Queen. 

Bat we are now within a few hundred miles of Cape 
Clear, and already begin to scent, in imagination, the 
Emerald Isle, although my fair vis a vis at the dinner 
table, provokingly insinuates that the Irish whisky 
punches with which our resurrected passengers are 
now regaling their exhausted " coppers," gives rise to 
the idea. The sea is quietly subsiding, and we shall 
soon, we trust, tread the shores of " Merrie England." 
We have had a decidedly pleasant and agreeable voy- 
age and a company mainly of sociable passengers. Of 
course, among so many, we have had some boors who, 
having none of the instincts of gentlemen in their na- 
ture, could not conceal for so long a period their true 
character, and who always upon such occasions, (the 
only opportunities they ever have) inflict their rude- 
ness upon respectable people. I am pleased to add 
they were not Americans. 



CHAPTER III. 

Liverpool — First Night on Shore—Docks — English Hotels — Lon- 
don Life — An Irish Countess— St. Paul's and its Monuments. 

The next morning "Land ho!" cried from the 
fore top, brought sick and well upon deck. 

D 

Strange faces were seen, for the first time during 
the voyage, and more than one cadaverous visage 
peered up from below as from the tombs, breathing 
?< the first pure air they had inhaled for a weary fort- 
night. Ireland was in sight and every one seemed 
inspired with an ardent affection for " the Emerald 
Isle ;" although seen through the glasses which were 
levelled towards her, she presented but rugged rocks 
and an iron bound shore. 

Passing Cape Clear and up the Irish Channel in 
view of Holyhead, and the coast of Wales, Ave 
dropped anchor about midnight in the Mersey at 
Liverpool. 

Here we found the obliging Custom House officers 

ready to examine the luggage of those who desired to 

go on shore at that late hour, and the great saloon 

being cleared out to receive the trunks, the work began. 
(22) 



FIRST NIGHT ON SHORE. 23 

American editions of English books, and tobacco, 
are the chief articles sought for as contraband. As 
our library, however, had been condensed before 
starting into Bolmar's Phrases in French and English, 
and our last " plug " had been long since, under the 
moving appeal of winds and waves, consigned to old 
Neptune, we were happily permitted to pass without 
much question. A black looking steam tug awaited 
us, and having received her cargo, she threaded her 
way among the dark hulls for a mile or more, and 
landed us at St. George's Dock. 

How we enjoyed that first night on shore at the 
" Adelphi ! " when we felt our limbs, wearied with 
long tossing upon the ocean, once more resting upon 
a motionless and comfortable couch, and realized, 
sure enough, that solid old England was beneath 
us. After exchanging those contracted bunks on 
shipboard for a wide bed on shore, how one explores 
its remotest corners with his feet, stretching all over 
it, and unable to sleep for a time on account of the 
quiet which prevails ! Those only know the delight 
of a commodious rest on terra firma, who have them- 
selves been " cabined, cribbed, confined," for a weary 
fortnight, in the narrow cells of an English steamer. 

After the universal English breakfast of eggs, cof- 



24 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

fee, and rolls, served in our rooms by a prim and 
stately waiter in white neck tie, we rode out to visit 
^ the celebrated Docks of Liverpool. These are nu- 
merous and extensive artificial basins constructed 
parallel to, and near the river Mersey, for a distance 
of nearly six miles. 

They are handsomely and substantially walled in, 
and connected with the river by means of massive 
locks and gates, that open and close with the shifting 
tide which here rises to the height, at times, of thirty 
feet. High tide is thus always maintained within the 
docks, and the immense fleet of vessels of all nations 
^ that congregate here, rides securely alongside of the 
capacious warehouses which are very conveniently 
arranged for the reception of their cargoes. 

The chief architectural lion of Liverpool is St. 
George's Hall. This is a noble municipal structure 
possessing an organ of extraordinary power and tone, 
and having a fine concert hall which has given its 
name to the building. 

We took the evening train for London. Everything 

is done here quietly and orderly. There is no crowd- 

^ ing, no hurrying. The first class cars are divided 

into compartments holding six each, and officers in 

uniform are stationed at the depots to see the passen- 



LONDON LIFE. 25 

gers properly seated according to their tickets, in the 
first, second, and third class cars, all of which accom- 
pany each train. We took our places ; the doors were 
locked, the guards, as they are called, or brakemen 
posted on the train, the shrill whistle of the conduc- 
tor gave its warning, and we plunged into a dark tun- 
nel on our way to London. 

It was Spring in England. The hawthorn hedges 
had not yet put on their modest garniture of white 
blossoms, but clothed in their bright and rich green, 
and neatly trimmed, presented everywhere along the 
way an agreeable and prominent feature in the land- 
scape. Beautiful lawns, tasty cottages, farms, vil- 
lages and towns flew by us with the rapidity of light, 
until night shut out the scene. The next morning 
found us at London. 

The English Hotels are all small ; and after driving 
to several which had been recommended and which 
we found full, we at last found lodgings at the "Fitz- 
roy Mansion," a private hotel or boarding house at 
the west end. 

Here we had a table d'hote, and although the fare 
was not entirely unexceptionable we found our rooms 
agreeable ; but the furniture was shabby, the china 
cracked, the servants few, and it was soon evident 



26 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

that the " Mansion" was the cheap asylum of decayed, 
or very much straightened gentility. 

At meals we saw the rest of the guests who were 
every one a study : reminding us strongly of some 
of the characters of Dickens, such as can be seen no 
where out of London. Opposite us at table sat an 
Irish countess, who always dressed in blue silk. 
She was very talkative, had a very red nose, red 
hair, and a red face, and mixed " suthin " with her 
coffee every morning, out of a bottle which stood 
beside her, by the advice, as she volunteered, of her 
physician. She professed to have weak nerves, and, 
after coffee, always became very voluble with the 
East India officer on half-pay, who sat at her left, 
and the clergyman of the Established Church await- 
ing a parish, who occupied the post of honor upon 
her right. This latter personage had evidently grown 
gray while awaiting a vacancy. By the aid of his 
barber, however, his hair and whiskers presented a 
glossy black, rivalling that of Day and Martin, but 
contrasting sadly with his seedy black coat, which 
seemed to have done duty since the Reform- 
ation. Then there was a "Miss Flite," who was 
in London to look after that eternal chancery 
suit of her's, where she had come every year from 



ST. PAULS AND ITS MONUMENTS. 27 

time immemorial, dancing attendance upon the 
courts. 

We had a " Quilp," too, who, with ogling eye and 
sardonic grin, peered down the table into every one's 
face, as if to read their thoughts, or estimate their 
income. 

The host and hostess were well calculated to man- 
age such an establishment. The latter spoke a little 
German, by means of which they had secured a 
wealthy young German boarder, who was learning 
English ; and the former, by dint of a smattering of 
French, had in like manner " bagged " a Frenchman. 
These " cards " occupied seats beside the respective 
heads of the house, and enjoyed their especial regard. 
A communicative old lady boarder, however, suggested 
to us that these attentions would all find their way 
into the bills, which, judging from our own experience 
at settlement, we think quite within the bounds of 
probability. 

Notwithstanding the drizzling rain which continued 
during our stay of a week, we found opportunity to 
visit many of the interesting sights of London. 
Taking a cab we drove to St. Paul's Cathedral. 
This noble structure was designed by, and was the 
crowning labor of Sir Christopher Wren. 



28 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

It stands on Ludgate Hill, a gentle elevation, which, 
■when the church was built, was doubtless considered 
an eligible position. Now it has become the center 
of the busy mart of commerce, and the beautiful 
dome, and walls of white marble, blackened by the 
eternal smoke of this world-compressed city, seem 
sadly out of place. It is in the form of a Latin 
cross, five hundred feet long and one hundred feet 
wide, and the dome resting upon massive marble 
columns, rises gracefully to the height of more than 
four hundred feet. 

When we entered, the morning services were in 
progress, and a powerful organ was filling its grand 
and lofty arches with solemn sound, in strange con- 
trast with the noise and bustle of commerce without. 
As at Westminster Abbey, monuments are here 
erected to the great of England, and statues and 
tablets line the walls. 

Passing a host of monuments to military heroes 
and to scholars, we stopped to admire the monument 
to Lord Nelson by Flaxman, and the fine statue of 
Howard, the philanthropist, by Bacon. 

The next name which arrested our attention 
was of that glorious " soldier of the cross," Bishop 
Heber. His statue, a kneeling figure, by Chantry, 



ST. PAULS AND ITS MONUMENTS. 29 

is one of the most interesting objects in the Cathe- 
dral, whether viewed as a work of art, or as com- 
memorative of the worldly tenement and holy labors 
of a great soul. 

The reclining statue of Sir John Moore, who fell 
at Corunna, in Spain, beautifully illustrates the in- 
fluence of poetry. The artist has obtained a design 
for a most appropriate monument, from those beau- 
tiful lines, so familiar to all, written upon his burial, 
beginning — " Not a drum was heard, not a funeral 
note," etc., and has represented the brave soldier, 

"Like a warrior taking his rest, 
With his martial cloak around him." 

One feels, on repeating the lines, that any other de- 
vice would be a sacrilege. 

After the services were over, we ascended to the 
top of the immense dome. Half way up, its perfect 
and well-proportioned arch constitutes the finest whis- 
pering gallery in the world. The faintest word can be 
distinctly heard upon the opposite side, a distance, 
by the circle, probably of one hundred and fifty feet. 
"We stood form a few moments upon the highest at- 
tainable point, gazing with delight upon the grand 
panorama which lay unrolled below us. 

Was our early dream at last accomplished ? Were 



30 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

we, indeed, within the sound of " Bow Bells ? " and 
was this, really, St. Paul's which rested so solidly 
beneath our feet, with the great sea of London hu- 
manity heaving and swelling about its base? Time 
and space seemed annihilated. The voyage of three 
thousand miles was forgotten, and we seemed to have 
been dropped as from a balloon upon this airy height, 
overlooking this strange city. 

But there was no mistaking London. There was 
the turbid and crooked Thames, winding about and 
through the great city, like the slimy folds of a huge 
boa constrictor encompassing its prey ; while the 
strong heart-throbs of the struggling victim seemed 
to come up to us in the hum of the mighty throng 
of busy men which flowed through the beating ar- 
teries of Fleet street, the Strand, and Cheapside 
toward the Bank of England and Ludgate Hill. 



CHAPTER IV. 

The Thames— Steamers — Tunnel — The Tower — Crystal Palacg 
at Sydenham — British Museum — A Scottish Chieftain — Grand 
Entree into France. 

"No one visiting London should fail to make a trip 
upon the Thames. Wishing to visit Greenwich and 
the Tower and to see the great city in all its aspects, 
we took our position at London Bridge to await the 
passing of one of those little black steamers — the 
water omnibusses, which ply upon the river and pass 
every five or ten minutes. 

These steamers are a peculiar feature of London. 
They are propelled by side wheels, and an oscillating 
engine which is placed in the hold. The pilot occu- 
pies the extreme aft, and, with a horizontal wheel, 
controls the helm, while the captain stands upon a 
raised platform amidships, and by a motion of his 
hand, right or left, indicates how he shall steer. A 
small boy conveys the orders of the captain to the 
engineer below, when to stop or start the engines. 
No bells or trumpets are used, and the Yorkshire 

( 31 ) 



32 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

patois in which the commands were rendered, were 
beyond our comprehension. 

To one accustomed to steam navigation on the 
rivers of America, this management seems primi- 
tive enough, yet they run swiftly, pass through 
the throng of wherries, steamers, ferry beats, ships 
at anchor and under way, etc., with great adroit- 
ness, and rarely suffer a collision. The giant hull of 
the Leviathan steamer, attracted attention as we 
passed along. She is exhibited now at a half crown 
admission, and practical men here have but little faith 
that she will ever be a paying investment if finished. 
After looking at the Palace home at Greenwich Naval 
Hospital, where England so bounteously provides 
for her invalid and worn out seamen, We returned to 
the Thames Tunnel, which we entered by descending 
a long flight of steps. It is well lighted by gas, and 
entering, we soon found ourselves beneath the vast 
moving commerce of the Thames. 

There is no inclined plain or roadway for carriages 
to enter, and hence the tunnel is of but little practical 
use. It is a mere show shop for the sale of toys, 
etc., and the stock is valueless. 

Taking a cab we rode through Wapping and Bil- 
lingsgate, of unenviable notoriety, to the Tower, 



A NIGHT AT THE OPERA. 33 

which stands upon the banks of the Thames and to 
which prisoners were formerly taken by water. We 
were here shewn ancient armor of all nations from 
the earliest ages — the dungeons from whence Anne 
Boleyn, Lady Jane Grey, and many others dis- 
tinguished in the history of England, were led to the 
scaffold — the " bloody tower " in which the two sons 
of Edward the IY were cruelly murdered by order 
of Richard the III, &c, &c, 

Becoming satiated with horrors, we turned to the 
crown jewels, which are kept in a room and sur- 
rounded by a stout iron cage through the bars of 
which they are seen. The celebrated Koh-i-noor dia- 
mond with its accompanying brilliants — massive ser- 
vices of gold, and crowns and regalia rich in precious 
stones — constitute these relics of inestimable value. 
At night we attended the opera at " Her Majesty's 
Theater " — the great opera house of London — and 
heard Mile. Titian Alboni, Sig. Giuglioni and other 
distinguished artists in the " Trovatore." We were 
obliged, however, to content ourselves with an ele- 
vated box, in the 5th tier — the tail of our coat being 
found by measurement 1J- inches wider than the 
court standard. No one is admitted into the par- 
quette or four first tiers of boxes, unless in court 
4 



34 NOTES DKAWN AT SIGHT. 

dress, with which travelers are not always provided. 

However, from our plebeian eyrie, which was oppo- 
site the Royal box, we inspected the nobility through 
our opera glasses to our heart's content, and enjoyed 
the music quite as much as those whose narrow-tailed 
coats permitted them to occupy a more aristocratical 
location. 

The Crystal Palace, at Sydenham, is one of the 
wonders of the age. It is very little less in size than 
the one erected in Hyde Park, for the exhibition of 
1851, and is, indeed, the same materials, but much 
more lofty and better planned. Its vast interior is 
a garden — filled with statues and flowers, and 
enlivened with fountains. The sides or wings, are 
devoted to the exhibition of manufactures, and other 
objects of interest, while the extensive grounds 
around it are adorned with cascades, grottoes, foun- 
tains and lakes, and filled with the choicest plants. 

Among the thousand attractions within these vast 
walls of glass, are the "Courts." These are the 
fronts and interiors of palaces — illustrating the archi- 
tecture of all those nations which have left sufficient 
vestiges to guide the artist. 

Here is seen the Assyrian court as it existed at 
Ninevah and Babylon, its portals guarded by giant 



THE COURTS. 35 

winged lions with human face. The Egyptian 
court of the Ptolemies, with its long row of Sphynxes. 
The Grecian, Roman, Persian and Pompeian, the 
latter with its atrium, or interior court-yard filled 
with beautiful flowers and cooled by fountains. The 
Alhambra of the Moors, the French, Italian, English 
and German Medieval, the Byzantine, Romanesque, 
Renaissance, and Elizabethian styles, are also here 
reproduced in all their original splendor, the whole 
affording such a study in architecture as the world 
has never before seen. 

Some of these courts surround an extensive area 
at one end of the building called the " tropical gar- 
den/' where a high artificial heat and moisture are 
maintained. 

Here can be seen the Date Palm, Wine Palm, 
Cabbage Palm, Sago Palm ; the Cinnamon, Coffee, 
Tea, and Bread fruit trees. The Strychnine plant, 
or Nux Vomica, the Lotus of the Nile, the Papyrus 
and a thousand other strange and interesting tropi- 
cal plants and trees fill this inclosure. 

Interspersed among the foliage are aquariums of 
strange fishes, cages of rare tropical birds, and dens 
of boa constrictors and other horrid reptiles alive; 
while well made and carefully colored plaster casts 



36 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

of some of the strangest specimens of humanity, 
placed in groups attract attention. There were the 
Kaffirs and Bushmen of South Africa ; the Danakils, 
a chocolate colored race of Eastern Africa, having 
a straight, Jewish nose ; one of the Msegurra 
tribe, also of Eastern Africa, and the Ibos, Eellatahs 
and Nufis of the Delta of the Niger. These three 
latter are the Negroes of Western Africa, typical of 
those of Guinea, from whence the slaves of America 
are taken or have descended. There was also a live 
Chimpanzee, the animal whose form so nearly resem- 
bles that of man, and who builds huts and uses 
clubs for attack and defence. Though smaller than 
the Ourang Outang, he is much more intelligent, and 
presses hard upon the Negro in form and feature. 
There was also the high and low caste Hindoos, with 
their black piercing eye ; the Himalayan, the Tibe- 
tan, the Papuans of the Louisiade Archipelago, with 
curiously frizzled mop-heads, a cross between the 
Malay and Negro, and the Australian with ill pro- 
portioned body, and projecting lower jaw — the most 
degraded form of humanity. 

Leaving the Palace we turned our steps to the 
artificial lake supplied with water by an artesian 
well. Here the wonders of geology are illustrated. 



SYDENHAM PALACE. 37 

In the banks and cliffs surrounding these lakes are 
exhibited the coal-slate, the iron-stone, sand-stone 
and clay. 

In another cliff the carboniferous lime-stone, the 
spar, the old and new red sandstone formations and 
mineral veins, are seen. These cliffs and strata 
are all artificial. The different materials composing 
them have been brought here in quantities of many 
tons, and the whole forms an interesting study in 
practical geology. 

Parallel with the new red sand-stone strata, are 
the secondary islands of the lake, upon which are ex- 
hibited, reproduced in plaster, enormous reptiles of 
the Saurian species and the Iguanodon, both belong- 
ing to the secondary period. They are constructed 
after the anatomy of Cuvier and other celebrated 
geologists, and painted about the color of an alliga- 
tor, and represented as if crawling out of the slime of 
the lake. 

While absorbed in looking at these strange crea- 
tures, the usual London rain came up and with a 
crowd of others we took shelter in one of the artifi- 
cial grottoes near by, where we remained until the 
shower passed, when we returned to London fatigued, 
and feeling that we had but glanced at the wonders of 



38 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

Sydenham Palace. The British Museum stands 
confessedly at the head of all such exhibitions in the 
world. Here are to be seen many of the ancient 
originals of the statues bas reliefs, &c, which have 
furnished the key to the most interesting portion of 
the exhibition at the Crystal Palace. The British 
Museum is rich in realities, not imitations, and a 
month could be spent in wandering through its vast 
rooms, filled with specimens of every beast, bird, 
insect, reptile or mineral in the world. 

The basement contains the celebrated Elgin and 
other marbles, and comprises an immense and won- 
derful collection of antiquities. 

The library contains 500,000 volumes, among 
which are some of the rarest in the world. It is 
open to literary men for reference, by application to 
the Librarian. Here can be seen specimens of print- 
ing, from the earliest introduction of the art; jand 
the autographs of many distinguished men of every 
age. 

We left London in the usual drizzle, or Scotch 
mist — which they say wets an Englishman to the 
skin — and arriving at Dover an hour before the time 
of the departure of the packet, betook ourselves to 
the nearest eating house for dinner. Here while 



SCOTTISH CHIEFTAIN. 39 

looking out of the window at Dover cliffs and 
castle opposite, we fell into conversation with a very 
pleasant gentleman and lady. Learning we were 
from America they seemed very friendly and on our 
departure the gentleman handed us his card. He 
proved to be a veritable Scottish Chieftain, the 
"Chief of Clanranald." It made us feel very Wal- 
ter Scottish to be meeting these veritable felloivs. 
But then the " kilts and the breeks " have succumbed 
now to plain breeches and coat and the charm and the 
poetry have vanished. Just think of a " Chieftain to 
the Highlands bound," in London breeches, boots 
and beaver, looking like any plebeian. Pooh ! its 
laughable ! We shook our new found friend warmly 
by the hand on leaving to go on board the steamer, 
inwardly commiserating his fallen state, and praying 
for the restoration ef every Scottish thing, (except 
the fiddle). 

Not being English we did not feel bound to be sea- 
sick on crossing the channel, and therefore retained 
our parting dinner of roast beef until we arrived at 
Calais. A maigre Frenchman at the " Douane" 
looked hard at the lower button of our vest, either 
suspicious of contraband commodities within — or en- 
vious of our English rotundity. His attention, how- 



40 NOTES DKAWN AT SIGHT. 

ever, being distracted by the entrance of a well known 
female lace smuggler who was just returning from a 
successful foray, upon England, we passed on with- 
out further question, were duly pronounced " Bon " 
and permitted to attempt the assassination of the 
Emperor, or commit any other atrocity in which 
we might feel inclined to indulge upon the soil of 
France, 

Calais is s a tidal port. The tide, however, upon 
our arrival was on duty elsewhere. Our boat ran 
into the mud some distance from shore and we had 
no alternative but to make our grand entree into 
" La Belle France," in. common with all on board — 
ladies as well as gentlemen — astride of the backs of 
sailors. Adjourning to a " Buffet " (eating saloon,) 
to await the departure of the evening train for Paris, 
we drank a bottle of " Lafitte " to our friends at 
home and in commemoration of our safe arrival 
upon the continent of Europe. The next morning 
found us duly installed at Paris. 



CHAPTER V. 

Paris and its Sights — Grand Review — Pere la Chaise — Tomb 
of Napoleon and Hotel des Invalides. 

We are del iglitf ally situated in this, certainly the 
most delightful city of the world, in only the fifth 
story of the "Hotel Meurice," one of the most 
agreeably located in Paris. We have selected this 
elevated eyrie as it overlooks the Seine, the Champs 
Elysees, the Rue Rivoli, the Gardens of the Tuileries, 
and the best half of Paris. These Gardens are im- 
mediately beneath our windows, and are almost half 
a mile in length, by one quarter of a mile in width. 
They are filled with fine shade-trees, fountains, and 
statues, and intersected by clean gravel walks, and 
are at all times open to the public for promenades. 

From the window where I write, we see to the 
left the Tuileries itself, the present residence of the 
Emperor. It is said to be connected with the Gar- 
den by a subterranean passage, through which Louis 
Philippe escaped from the excited mob, only a few 

short years ago, leaving his throne and his kingdom, 

(41) 



42 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

never to return. To the right, adjoining the Gar- 
dens, and connecting them with the Champs Elysees, 
is the Place de la Concorde, a square beautifully laid 
out, paved with marble slabs, and adorned with 
statues and fountains. 

In the center stands the celebrated " Obelisk of 
Luxor," brought from the front of the great Temple 
of Thebes, by Louis Philippe. It is a very interest- 
ing object, from the fact that it stands where the 
guillotine stood, daring the bloody days of the old 
Revolution, as well as that it dates back to Sesostris, 
or Rhameses III., 1550 years before Christ. Thirty- 
three centuries, as Napoleon said of the Pyramids, 
here look down from its tall summit, upon the gay 
crowd which daily gathers about its' base, vainly try- 
ing to decypher the hieroglyphics with which each 
of its four sides is covered. 

Still farther westward, the eye wanders over the 
Champs Elysees, forming, with the Tuileries and the 
Place de la Concorde, a park of one and a half miles 
in extent, the extreme or western end crowned with 
the grand "Arc de Triomphe. ,i This arch was com- 
menced by Napoleon L, and standing on an elevation 
of some fifty feet, and being itself ninety feet high 
from the ground, forms a very conspicuous object, 



PARIS AND ITS SIGHTS. 43 

as seen from the Palace of the Tuileries. It is a 
very elaborate and beautiful piece of work, fine bas- 
reliefs and statues adorning it, and was erected at a 
cost of two million dollars. It is consecrated, as the 
inscription indicates, to the glory of " La Grande 
Armee Francaise." 

The space, lying between where we stand and the 
"Triumphal Arch," is filled with shade-trees and 
booths, for the sale of all sorts of eatables. Shows 
of all kinds and games, are here permitted. Flying- 
horses, revolving-ships, with all the rising and sink- 
ing motion necessary to the full enjoyment of sea- 
sickness, weighing chairs, dancing monkeys, and 
extempore theaters, or "cafes chant ants," and a 
hundred other amusements here delight the pleasure- 
loving Parisians. 

These cafes chantants are very tasty temples or 
canopies, open toward the audience in front, who are 
seated in the open air ; the rest of the structure is 
surrounded by plate-glass, the whole forming a kind 
of stage, upon which nightly appear, performers and 
singers, who delight the thousands that, for a few 
sous expended in refreshments, may enjoy the cheap 
amusement. Crowds of citizens are to be seen here 
at all hours of the day, and far into the night, at 



44 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

•which time, particularly, all Paris seems to be given 
up to pleasure. The streets are then thronged with 
people, and the thousand cafes have every where 
their little round marble-top tables placed upon the 
pavement in front, surrounded with parties sipping 
their wine, chocolate, or coffee, as their taste or 
purse inclines. 

But the never-ceasing roll of the drum, the clang- 
ing of military bands, the constant march of soldiers 
through the streets, relieving guard, which is con- 
stantly kept up at all public places and at all public 
buildings, for no other purpose that we can see but 
to keep the soldiers employed, all speak literally 
" trumpet-tongued " of the despotism which reigns 
supreme. Yet the people seem satisfied, as far as 
shows on the surface. 

Yesterday a grand review was held of the ''Impe- 
rial Guard." About 10 or 15,000 of the elite of the 
French cavalry were paraded and reviewed at Long 
Champs. No notice was, or ever is, given of these 
things to the people ; but seeing the royal cortege 
moving, we took a carriage and joined the two thou- 
sand other < ; voitures " which commenced driving in 
that direction. We passed through the Bois de Bo- 
logne a beautiful park lying west of the city, of 



GRAND REVIEW. 45 

several hundred acres in extent. It is finely varie- 
gated by hill and dale, having artificial lakes covered 
with regatta boats, and swan, herds of deer dotting here 
and there the lawns, or filling the deep forest shades, 
as well as rocky cliffs, cascades, grottoes, caverns, etc. 
All this, we were informed, was the work of the pre- 
sent Emperor, during the brief period in which he 
has governed France. It is this energy, coupled 
with a desire to beautify Paris, which satisfies the 
Parisians and keeps them quiet under the iron rule. 
On arriving at the field we found the cavalry 
going through various evolutions, and with their rich 
uniforms, handsomely caparisoned horses, and shin- 
ing steel cuirasses and helmets glistening in the sun, 
they presented a very warlike and exciting spectacle 
The Emperor and Empress, in company with the 
Queen of Holland and the Prince of Wirtemburg, 
both of whom were on a visit to the French Court, 
occupied a pavilion erected on the field. It was for 
the amusement of these Royal guests that all this 
was got up, and not particularly for the few " Yankee 
Doodle Sovereigns," as the Americans are called 
who chanced to be present. After the review, the 
troops defiled before the pavilion, each regiment as 
it passed, giving the "vive V JSmpemurl" 



46 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

This done, the royal party left for the city. They 
passed very close to us, the Emperor riding alone 
in front of his " Cent " Guards, who always ac- 
company him when he leaves his palace. The Em- 
press and ladies followed at their leisure, in carriages 
having outriders and four horses each. The young 
Prince followed in another carriage with his nurse. 
He is a pretty little blue-eyed fellow, and stood at 
the carriage window kissing his hand to the crowd 
as he passed. He seems quite a favorite with the 
people, and one would think both the French and 
English thrones were never more firmly planted in 
the hearts of the people than at present. " Mais 
nous Verrons I " 

Both the Emperor and Empress looked pale, and 
he, we thought, quite careworn, but marvellously 
recalling the early pictures of Napoleon I. Eugenie 
is entitled to the most that has been said of her great 
beauty ; there are few women so well endowed in 
form and feature. 

At the Chapel of the Invalides, we visited the 
remains of the " Great Napoleon," and gazed for a 
moment on his bier, but the order to " circuler" 
(move on,) allowed us but a glance, as others were 
waiting. The immense sarcophagus of porphyry 



HOTEL DES INVALIDES. 47 

brought from Finland, is of beautiful workmanship, 
and weighs about 79 tons. It is now ready to 
receive the remains, but owing to the indecision 
of the present Emperor, they have not yet been 
placed within it. The tomb with the statues, 
etc., which surround it, is very imposing, and forms 
with the rich interior of this magnificent church, one 
of the most interesting of the sights of Paris. 
I do not give a minute description of these objects ; 
they are more or ]ess familiar to all. Besides our 
journey was a hurried one, permitting but a coup 
d'ceil, and our descriptions must necessarily be of the 
same character. 

At the '"' Invalides," about 3,000 soldiers are taken 
care of, and we remarked one beautiful feature, that 
each old soldier who desired, had his little parterre 
which he cultivated and enjoyed. They were neatly 
fenced in and full of flowers. In this as well as 
other cheerful aspects, it differed from Greenwich 
Hospital at London, which we visited, and which 
seemed quite cheerless and bare. There not a tree or 
flower broke the dull monotony of walls and cor- 
ridors, or enlivened and beautified the grounds, 
leading the mind of the dying soldier, through nature 
up to God. 



48 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

Pere la Chaise is greatly behind " Greenwood/' of 
New York, "Mount Auburn," of Boston, " or Spring 
Grove," of Cincinnati, in all that renders a cemetery 
beautiful, that sweet mingling of nature and art. 
Here are closely built streets of tombs, a city of the 
dead, reminding us much of the New Orleans burial 
places. But the names we see arrest our attention, 
and we forget all else. Abelard and Heloise, La 
Place, Lafontaine, Mad. Lavalette, Madame de Gen- 
lis, etc., etc. Marshall Ney lies interred here, with- 
out a stone or memorial to point out the spot. For 
a time the place was entirely unknown to the public. 
Some friend has latterly scratched his name with a 
nail upon the railing around the grave. We after- 
wards visited the Church of Perpia, where are in- 
terred the remains of Lafayette. An humble stone 
alone marks the spot where he lies, in an obscure 
churchyard. We trust the day is not far distant 
when in the New World, for which he periled so 
much, a monument will arise, to express in a fitting 
manner to succeeding generations his great services, 
and the gratitude of its citizens. 



CHAPTER VI. 

Sunshine in Paris— The Morgue — A Suicide — Pont Neuf — 
Washing and Bathing Houses — Notre Dame — Hotel Dieu — 
Hotel de Ville — Column of July — Madelaine — Column of 
Napoleon — Boulevards — Palais Royal — Cafes — Trois Freres 
Provonc-eaux — Fontainbleau — The Wine District of France — 
The Saone— The Rhone— The Oidium— Lyons— The Castled 
Rhone — Avignon the former Seat of the Popes. 

May 21st, 1858. 
Spring is rapidly advancing into summer ; and as 
we intend visiting the south of Italy, we shall make, 
at present, but a very limited stay in Paris. This 
morning we demoted to driving through the city, 
looking at the principal objects of interest, and en- 
joying the delightful sunshine — the first which has 
greeted us on European ground. There is a beauty 
and clearness of the atmosphere here, and a bright- 
ness in the sunshine which are unknown in England. 
This is observed by every one passing from one 
country to the other. " Yet," said an English friend 
to whom we remarked it, and who, with the dogged 

obstinacy of John Bull, was loth to admit that any- 
5 (49) 



50 NOTES DTtAWN AT SIGHT. 

thing in France excelled his own country — "when 
our sun does shine, it is not to be sneezed at." Un- 
consciously he uttered a truism, for we honestly doubt 
if ever the sun attains in London sufficient bright- 
ness to excite the sternutatDry nerves, even when it 
does shine, which we take to be about as rare an event 
as the advent of a comet. 

We drove by the " Morgue," and notwithstanding 
the cheerful weather, murder, or suicide, which is, 
none the less, murder, furnished its usual daily supply 
of victims. The ghastly corpses of two " miser ablest 
who had drowned themselves in the Seine the night 
before, lay upon the stone tables, as we passed by, 
their open eyes glaring upon the crowd, which, with 
the eager curiosity so common to the humbler classes, 
pressed against the " grille" or iron grating, to gaze 
upon the dead within. 

The " Morgue," is the city dead house, situated on 
the bank of the Seine, where all bodies found' in the 
streets or drawn from the river are taken, stripped 
to the waist, and exposed during the day for identi- 
fication and reclamation by their friends. It is a 
necessary institution without doubt, in a great city 
such as Paris, but feelings of deep sadness came over 
us when we reflected upon the silent misery which 



NOTRE DAME. 51 

must exist in this gay capital, to make life a " cal- 
amity " to so many of God's creatures ; six or eight, 
we were informed, being the average number brought 
here daily, the wretched victims, generally, of sui- 
cide or starvation. 

Near by is the "Pont Neuf," or new bridge, pass- 
ing over the Seine to the " He de la Cite" from 
whence a fine view of Paris bordering the river, is 
obtained. 

For miles its banks are protected by perpendicular 
walls, having parallel roadways, similar to those at 
Montreal, Canada. Numerous and extensive bathing 
houses, and public washing houses were observed 
afloat and moored to the walls, in the latter of which 
many women were at work pounding the clothes with 
clubs. The " Conciergerie" the prisons of Paris are 
seen upon the opposite bank, and crowning the lower 
end of the island, stands the celebrated old Cathedral 
of " Notre Dame," whose location has a history co- 
eval with that of Paris. An altar to Jupiter is said 
to have stood on the spot now occupied by this 
church, •which was destroyed by the early christians, 
about the year 365. 

It is an immense Gothic structure, built of grey 
sandstone and flanked by two tall towers, which, with 



52 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

the grand arched portal, and indeed the whole front, 
are elaborately ornamented with sculptured figures, 
heads of saints, etc., etc. 

A star in the marble pavement in front of the 
altar, marks the spot where stood Napoleon and 
Josephine at their coronation, and the present Em- 
peror, in imitation of his " uncle," wedded the beau- 
tiful Eugenie at the same place. This church is 
undergoing extensive repairs to which the govern- 
ment contributes. It was very greatly injured during 
the last revolution, being with the Faubourg St. An- 
toine, the center of several conflicts and was the 
head quarters of the revolutionist party. 

From hence, we drove past the " Hotel Dieu" the 
oldest hospital here; the u Hotel de'Ville" or mu- 
nicipal buildings ; the "Column of July," erected on 
the spot where stood the old Bastile, to the memory 
of those who fell in July, 1830. On the top of this 
well proportioned column, which is of bronze, 160 
feet in height, stands a beautiful gilded figure — the 
" Genius of Liberty," looking like " Mercury, new- 
lighted on a heaven-kissing hill." It stands on tip- 
toe on a golden globe, with wings expanded, hold- 
ing in one hand a broken chain, and in the other 
a torch, — the torch of liberty, to light the nations— 



BOULEVARDS. 53 

beautiful, as illustrative of the France of 1830 — but 
not of 1858. Then, to the " Madelaine," that most 
beautiful and chaste of all the modern temples of 
Europe. It is after the model of the "Parthenon" at 
Athens, though said to be larger. It stands upon a 
raised platform, about ten feet from the ground, and is 
entirely surrounded with a perystile of delicately 
chiseled Corinthian columns, sixty feet in height and 
six feet in diameter. 

Near by the Madelaine, is the " Column of Napo- 
leon," in the "Place Vendome" made of bronze 
from twelve hundred cannon, taken from the Rus- 
sians and Austrians. It is covered with bas reliefs, 
illustrative of Napoleon's victories, and his full length 
statue crowns the top. 

Soldiers are stationed at all these columns, and no 
one is allowed to ascend alone, as the temptation to 
throw themselves down from these high elevations 
seems irresistable to the French. 

After a pleasant drive around the " Boulevards," 
which are wide streets, built upon the ramparts of 
the old city, lined with shade trees, and filled with 
gay shops, and cafes, we drew up at the Palais 
Royal. This is an immense old palace, built in the 
form of a hollow square, and enclosing a beautiful 



54 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

garden with flowers, fountains, etc. It was built by 
Cardinal Richelieu, and became the property, and 
was for a long time the residence of Louis Philippe 
and his family. It is now a vast collection of shops. 
Here we dined sumptuously at the " Trois Freres 
Provenceaux, one of the most aristocratic and re- 
cJierche, cafes in Paris. 

As its name indicates it was founded by three prov- 
incial brothers, who came to Paris, started an hum- 
ble eating-house, and by their cleanliness, strict at- 
tention to their guests, and moderate charges, soon 
accumulated a fortune. 

Their successors, the present proprietors, however, 
have long since abandoned the latter of those qual- 
ities by which the " Freres" achieved success, and it 
is now considered the most exorbitant cafe in Paris. 

An evening spent at the " Gaite," one of the 
twenty lighter theatres of this gay city, closed our 
labors for the day, and we retired to rest, cheered 
with the consciousness, that we had faithfully per- 
formed our duty for one day, at least, in sight-seeing. 

The next morning we took the train for Marseilles, 
in company with our trusty courier, " Paul," whom 
we had selected from a number of applicants, as the 
most reliable and best informed. 



THE WINE DISTRICT OF FRANCE. 55 

The road from Paris to Marseilles, passes through 
a garden all the way. Leaving Paris, we ascended 
the Seine for some distance, passing Fontainbleau, 
with its beautiful palace and grounds, and crossing 
to the Saone, which we descended toward Lyons. 
The fields and roadsides were glowing with the 
beautiful scarlet poppy, or " coquelicot," growing 
wild, and a species of clover, bearing a deep scarlet 
blossom, which seemed to be cultivated in long slen- 
der strips, dividing the fields. The gardens were 
blooming with roses, acacias, etc., filling the air 
with their fragrance. 

We had an entire division of a first class car to 
our party of four, and thus enjoyed the ride exceed- 
ingly. The "vignerons "■ were everywhere at work 
in the fields, tying up and weeding their vines, which 
here seem to be cultivated in small patches ; women, 
with large broad brimmed straw hats upon their 
heads, were at work, promiscuously, with the men in 
these labors, and all seemed contented, cheerful and 
happy. 

The valley of the Saone is the celebrated " Bur- 
gundy " district of France ; along this river the finest 
wine is produced. The grape, thus far, promises 
well, and already the canals and the rivers are cov- 



56 NOTES DKAWN AT SIGHT. 

ered with boats bearing casks into the interior in 
order to be ready for an extensive vintage in the fall. 

The dry sulphur treatment has been found here 
the most efficacious in arresting the " oidium." It 
is blown with a small bellows, in the form of a dry 
powder upon the diseased clusters and stalks. A 
mixture or paste of whiting and water has been tried, 
immersing the cluster therein, but thus far with no 
beneficial result. 

As we approached Lyons, the mulberry tree be- 
came abundant, from which, already, men were gath- 
ering the daily food for the silk worm ; silk raising 
constituting the chief industry of the country, in this 
part of France. 

Lyons is an important city, second only to Paris, 
lying between the rivers Saone and .Rhone, directly 
at their confluence. 

It is beautifully and tastefully laid out, possesses 
many fine public buildings, and is connected with 
the opposite shores of each river by substantial stone 
arch bridges. Its parks are filled with parterres of 
flowers, and shady plane trees line its streets. It is 
largely engaged in the manufacture of silk, and its 
citizens are thrifty and substantial. 

Lyons assumes the right at times of thinking and 



AVIGNON. 57 

expressing an opinion on political subjects for itself, 
and sometimes at variance with the great regulator, 
Paris. The Lyonnaise also claim to speak the 
pure French, clear, as they say, of the affectation of 
the fashionable capital. As we rested, however, at 
an English hotel, and the landlord could not speak 
French, we transacted all our business in pure honest 
old Anglo-Saxon, and can not answer for the claim 
of the Lyonnaise to particular purity of diction. 

Our ride next day from Lyons to Marseilles, was 
down the " blue and arrowy Rhone," by rail ; the dis- 
tant spurs of the Jura mountains, their tops still 
covered with snow, lying afar off to the eastward. 
Along the river every crag seems to have been a 
battlement in olden time, and we were constantly 
passing castles and ruins, till Harry declared, the 
Rhone deserved to be called " castled," as well 
as the Rhine. 

We passed Avignon, the former seat of the 
Popes. The old castle is now an imposing ruin, 
which, with many old Roman ruins in the vicinity, is 
much visited by tourists. 

The scenery, as we descend towards the Medi- 
terranean, becomes much more mountainous and rug- 
ged than the more .northern portion of France. Many 
6 



58 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

of the hills, however, are cultivated to their summits, 
and the long rows of graceful and tall Lombardy 
poplars, which line the streams and roadsides, and 
the beautiful and tasty cottages and villas, surrounded 
by flowers which fill the valleys, give a beauty to the 
landscape rarely excelled. 



CHAPTER VII. 

Marseilles — The Quay — Greek Women — Balbel — Hotel De Bris- 
tol — Hotel Charges — Cafe Chantant — Italian Steamer — Cha- 
teau d'lf — Corsica — Elba — Monte Christo — Italian Cuisine — ■ 
Dinner — Savory Compounds — Italian mode of Eating Maca- 
roni — Civita Vecchia — First sight of Vesuvius — Islands and 
Bay of Naples — The Beautiful City — Hotel Vittoria — San 
Gennaro — Campo Santo — Grotto di Posilippo — Tomb^of Virgil 
— Catacombs. 

Marseilles is a bustling sea-port. Crowds of peo- 
ple line the quay in various costumes and apparently 
all talking at once in all the " patois " known under 
the sun. Lazy soldiers lounge round every corner. 
The cart and dray horses sport huge unicorn- 
like horns, projecting from the top of the collar up- 
ward, which, with the hames are tipped with brass 
and often embellished with gay ribbons. Women are 
seen in the streets in the quaint costumes, and in 
the peculiar head dress of the Greeks. They are from 
the town of Arle, a very ancient Greek colony, 
which still retains its old customs, situated on the 

Rhone, near Avignon. Christians, Turks Moors 
(59) 



60 NOTES DKAWN AT SIGHT. 

and Chinese, and, indeed, almost all the nations of 
the earth are here represented along the quays. 
This, with its many peculiarities, stamp it as one of 
the strangest and most interesting cities in Europe. 

We took lodgings at the " Grand Hotel de Bris- 
tol/' and our Bonifaces in the United States, although 
generally reputed to understand that important part 
of a landlord's duty, making the bill, are perfect no- 
vices in the business. They should graduate at 
Marseilles, when with any reasonable amount of ma- 
teriel to work on, their fortune would be sure in 
the States in a year, at farthest. In the evening we 
visited a " Cafe Chantant" This is a feature of 
Prance, and very popular here. The building is fit- 
ted up as a kind of theater, beautifully ornamented 
in the Moorish Arabesque style, and for a franc ex- 
pended in refreshments one can hear some good 
singing and be bored with poor French wit, provided 
he is unfortunate enough to understand the u esprit 
de la langue." 

Finding the Italian steamer " Montibello " (pro- 
nounced Monchibello) was to sail the next morning- 
we at once engaged passage, as although not so good 
as the French line, we would gain two days time and 
save an indefinite amount of francs, by getting out of 



MONTE CHKISTO. 61 

the " Grand Bristol" as soon as possible. So leaving 
at an early hour of a delightful summer morning, we 
enjoyed a fine view of the " Chateau d'lf " on our 
way out of the harbor, the scene of Dumas' celebra- 
ted story of " Monte Christo ;" passing Corsica before 
night and the islands of Elba and Monte Christo by 
moonlight. The shores as we coasted along were 
seen through just enough haze to sober their rough 
points, and we enjoyed the voyage exceedingly. It 
troubled one of my " compagnons de voyage," the 
fastidious Mentor, a little, to accustom himself to 
the Italian cuisine on this steamer ; but the philo- 
sophical Harry never looked under the crust and ate 
trustingly. We had coffee in the morning at 7 which 
was obtained below ; but our meals were all served 
on the deck beneath an awning which was spread to 
protect us from the sun. 

Breakfast at 10 — wine and fruits in abundance ; 
but no tea or coffee. Sundry savory compounds, 
smelling of garlic, at which Mentor elevated his nasal 
organ. Dinner at 5J — utterly at the mercy of the 
cook — the dishes being beyond the combined gastro- 
nomical skill of our party to analyze — wine ad libi- 
tum. Both Mentor and Harry, however, with that 
easy adaptation to circumstances, which character- 



62 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

izes old travelers, at once adopted macaroni, eating 
it a l'ltalian. 

Taking their cue from a young and handsome 
black eyed " Signorina " who sat opposite us at table, 
the knife was discarded ; one end of the long string, 
helped to the mouth with the fork, when with a suc- 
tion and a noise like " a young" water spout, the worm 
looking edible seemed to wriggle up into the vortex 
and disappear. To close the teeth during this inter- 
esting process and thus break the continuity of the 
dish, is considered by all Italian epicures as decidedly 
" bete." 

The next morning when we awoke we were lying 
at the little port of Civita Yecchia, with a gracious 
permit to go on shore for the two or three hours our 
steamer was to lie there, on the payment of some 
three francs each, which, as the " Dogane" had spelt 
our names backward, we indignantly refused, prefer- 
ring to reserve our admiration for this the grandest 
Roman seaport, until our return hither, when per- 
adventure we may be permitted to enter his holiness' 
dominions foreward. This is the landing place lor 
Rome, beyond which it is of little or no importance. 
The usual characteristics of all Italian towns, lazy 
soldiers and priests line the quay, as we see from the 



ISLAND AND BAY OF NAPLES. 63 

deck of our steamer, and the picture of St. Peter 
and St. Paul, the flag of the Roman See, floats from 
the battlements. 

Getting under way again we ran down the coast. 
At night the light of Vesuvius was distinctly visible 
from our decks, and early in the morning we passed 
the islands of Ischia and Procida, studded with villas. 
We rounded Cape Misene, entered the renowned 
Bay of Naples, glided along under the guns of the 
" Castel del Ovo" — named from its egg-like shape — 
and dropped anchor within the great Mole. There 
lay the beautiful city sleeping in the clear sunlight 
of an Italian summer morn. The shores of the bay 
stretched gracefully to the westward, embracing 
within their curve the buried cities of Hercula- 
neum and Pompeii. Resina, Castellamare and 
Sorrento — their white houses gleaming in the 
morning sun marked the line toward the island of 
Capri, and the isles of the Sirens ; while towering 
high above all, terrible yet beautiful, Vesuvius 
emitted his everlasting column of smoke. The 
dream of our life was realized ; we felt happy, and 
thought of the Italian proverb, — " See Naples and 
die." We were not quite prepared to fulfill its con- 
ditions, yet really, no one should die without Urst 



64 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

seeing Naples, if possible. The eye can behold no 
fairer prospect on this earth. 

As soon as the custom house officer gave us our 
passport, we prepared to land. And now, such 
wrangling, such quarreling as occurred among these 
remote descendants of Massainello, for the honor 
(and the " carlines ") attendant upon our transpor- 
tation to terra firma we never heard before. New 
York hackmen in their palmiest days were quiet in 
comparison. They are prudent, however, and never 
fight. We selected the oldest boatman out of respect 
to his gray hairs, and after a voluminous expenditure 
of bad French and all the Italian our courier Paul 
could command we were ferried to shore and duly 
reported ourselves at the " Dogano " where we were 
inspected, compared with our passports and pro- 
nounced " buono " for a week, which, with the aid 
of an occasional carline, may be indefinitely extend- 
ed. So here we are; very comfortably lodged at the 
Hotel Vittoria, our rooms overlooking the whole bay, 
the Island of Capri and Ischia in front, and Vesu- 
vius, with the village of Resina, and Castellamare 
in the distance upon our left ; near which, also, lie 
the exhumed cities of Pompeii and Hercuianeum. 
Vesuvius is excited, as the flames from the peak 



CAMPO SANTO. 65 

were quite visible last night, and he is said to have 
lately " boiled over " a little. His freaks, however, 
are quite harmless, now, since St. Genaro, the Patron 
Saint of Naples, has this and the adjoining places 
under his protection ; and as his image lines the 
roadside toward the mountain, the city is supposed 
to be effectually protected. To-day we rode around 
the heights of the Capo di Monte, and enjoyed a fine 
view of this beautiful bay, and islands, stopping at 
the " Campo Santo Vecchio" the Potters' field 
of Naples, where for a carline (about 8 cents) the 
stone was removed from the mouth of the pit, into 
which the dead bodies of the poor are thrown, when 
a most disgusting sight met our view. Lying on the 
bottom, were men, women and children, naked, with 
faces upturned and in process of decay. Their 
ghastly forms haunted us the balance of the day, 
and made us almost regret our curiosity. There 
are 366 of these pits, one of which is used daily; 
quick lime is thrown in upon the bodies, the top 
closed up by mortar, and it remains closed for a 
year, until its turn again arrives to " ope its ponder- 
ous jaws." 

We drove through the grotto of Posilippo, passing 
the tomb of Virgil, which is pretty well authentica- 



66 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

ted, as the last resting place of the great poet. This 
grotto or tunnel was undoubtedly cut by the old 
Greeks or Romans, as it is referred to by their 
writers, and it is even ascribed by some to Yirgil, 
himself. It passes under the Mount Posilippo, and 
had for its object the connection of the eastern with 
the western part of the bay, where lay Lake Aver- 
nus, as the mountain here reaches the sea and sepa- 
rates the shores. Modern science, however, has over- 
come the obstruction, and the road now passes over 
as well as under the mountain. We also visited the 
Catacombs, excavated originally by the Greeks for 
burial places, and afterward used by the early Chris- 
tians as places of secret worship. They are very 
extensive and are cut out of the soft tufa, of which 
all these hills are composed, being the debris of vol- 
canoes. Many of the tombs were beautifully fres- 
coed, and adorned with statues, mosaics, etc., some 
of which are yet visible. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

San Carlo — Violin played by Ladies — Italian Pantomine — Vesu- 
vius Awake — The Hermitage — Monte Somma — Outline of the 
Mountain — Spartacus — Perilous ascent of Vesuvius — River of 
Eire — Alarm — Buono Mano, or Drink-Money — A Valley of 
molten lava — An authenticated Volcano — Lacrima Cristi — 
Fright — Return — Liberality — Hell — Museo Borbonico — Sights 
of Naples — Pompeii — Herculaneum — Temple of Jupiter — 
House of Castor and Pollux — Ampitheater. 

May 26. 

Last night we visited the a San Carlo," the great 
rival of the " La Scala," at Milan. This theater has 
six tiers of thirty-two boxes each, and is considered 
one of the largest and finest in Europe. 

We heard some passable singing, an exquisite 
performance on the violin, by two pretty and modest 
sisters, and a play of which we understood only the 
pantomine, but which had the usual love and murder 
elements of the Italian stage. 

When we left the theater, Vesuvius was shooting 
up tongues of flame high into the air, quite visible 
from the city, and resembling a distant conflagration. 

( 67) 



68 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

This surprised us, as we had always understood that 
flames were rarely seen except during an eruption ; 
the illuminations being usually caused by the reflec- 
tion upon the clouds of smoke always hanging over 
the crater. 

Paul had never seen the like before. We were 
here, then, in a highly favorable time, or, old Vesu- 
vius was firing up for the occasion of our visit, which 
we had projected for the next day. We therefore 
returned to the Vittoria, full of high expectation 
for the morrow. 

This morning, therefore, the 27th, we engaged a 
carriage, with three horses abreast, this number be- 
ing necessary for the pull up the mountain side of 
some three miles ; although the road is excellent, 
(thanks to the present King of Naples,) having a very 
easy grade with well paved gutters, curbstone, &c. 

A three hours drive brought us up to the " lo- 
canda" or half-way house, called the Hermitage, 
which is elevated about half a mile above the sea 
and stands upon the first plain, at the base of 
what is called Monte Somma. Evidently Monte 
Somma and the present Vesuvius were originally 
one, and the valley which now lies between them is 
but an extinct crater. Some ancient eruption, per- 



THE HERMITAGE. 69 

haps the same which destroyed Pompeii and Hercu- 
laneum, has broken down the western side next these 
cities and the sea, thus destroying the great bulk of 
the ancient mountain, and leaving the two fragments 
or smaller cones of Monta Somma and Vesuvius. 
This outline filled up by the eye as you ascend from 
Resina, would make one complete mountain of 
much greater height than the present one, and 
justify, in some measure, the description given of it 
by ancient writers, when Spartacus and his gladiators 
encamped among the vines and shrubbery, which 
then grew within its crater. 

From the first plain or belt, which is about five 
miles in circumference, Vesuvius rises to the height 
of about 1,500 feet, being altogether about 4,000 
feet above the sea, a cone of scoria, ashes and cinders, 
thrown up by successive eruptions. On reaching the 
Hermitage, we left our carriage, and mounting 
upon horses, progressed towards the cone. We found 
many persons here from the neighborhood, attracted 
by the active condition of the volcano; and, although 
we heard noises, and observed an unusual quantity 
of 'smoke hanging like a pall over the crater, we 
were hardly prepared for what followed. 

About a half a mile up the valley, between Monte 



70 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

Somma and Vesuvius, our progress was arrested by 
a moving current of lava, entirely covering up our 
only road. Here we dismounted and witnessed this 
river of fire, moving slowly but irresistably onward 
towards the sea. Our guides, astonished as much as we, 
here declared it was not possible to go farther. But 
We, on the contrary, insisted we had come 5,000 miles 
to see Vesuvius, and in good round Italian, through 
our courier, with all the most approved ejaculations, 
known to the language, strengthened with an occa- 
sional forcible Anglo-Saxon prefix, added that we 
would not pay a "grano " of "buono mano" or drink- 
money, until we had accomplished that same. This 
threat, to withhold the " buono mano" or the strong 
Anglo-Saxon made use of, had its effect. A kind of 
palanquin was produced, and Harry was placed upon 
the shoulders of four men — Mentor declining the 
dangerous attempt, and returning with a guide to 
the Hermitage. 

With an alpenstock in hand, we started on foot, 
diverging from the previous road, walking with 
great difficuly upon the lava, scoria and cinders, with 
a view, as Paddy would say, to surround the moun- 
tain, and to progress further up the valley to a 
point from whence we could ascend the cone. We 



AN AUTHENTICATED VOLCANO. 71 

proceeded in this manner about half a mile, some- 
times hurrying across a ravine, down which, just 
above us, a current of fire was pressing ; at others 
almost suffocated by the heat and sulphurous vapors 
which surrounded us, and trembling with fear lest our 
retreat should be entirely cut off and we too, be 
added to the multitude, who, from time to time have 
been destroyed by this mountain. But, trusting to 
our guides, who were very careful, and like all Nea- 
politans, never travel much out of the way to find 
danger, we pushed on, until at length a sight met 
our eyes at which the stoutest heart might well 
tremble. 

What we had before seen were merely rills, trick- 
ling down through the ravines of the mountain side 
— the boiling over of the great cauldron ; but now 
the cone itself had burst, at a point about one thou- 
sand feet below the apex, in consequence of the 
immense weight of the column of molten lava con- 
tained within, thus differing from ordinary eruptions. 

Above us, a few hundred yards, the whole valley 
was filled with the lava, forming a river more 
than a quarter of a mile in width, which moved to- 
ward us in one great wave of fire, bearing on its 
crest huge rocks of lava, the fragments of former 



72 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

eruptions, which it kept continually lifting up, and 
when upon the top or crest of the wave, (which was 
some six or eight feet in height,) rolling them down 
again in front of the moving mass, with a noise like 
the crashing of ice, or the roar of musketry, un- 
til they were finally melted or replaced by other 
fragments. The movement was at the rate of about 
six feet per minute, and I feel that language is in- 
adequate to convey a correct impression. The ele- 
ments seemed, indeed, to be melting with fervent heat. 
If the molten iron of all the founderies of the world 
were gathered into one great stream, it might give a 
faint idea of the mass of lava ; but the grandeur, the 
sublimity of the scene, heightened by the sense of 
personal danger which we experienced, and the crash- 
ing noise of the falling fragments, can neither be 
conceived nor described. 

Of course any farther progress was out of the 
question ; we all stood spell-bound, the guides 
as well as ourselves, at this wonderful spectacle. 
There was no mistaking this; it was as "Carlisle" 
would say, an " authenticated " volcano, and our 
guides said they had never before seen such a sight. 
After drinking a bottle of " Lacrima Christi " — the 
celebrated wine which is grown around the foot of 



RETURN. 73 

the mountain and hurriedly eating an egg, most 
sacrilegiously inserted by our courier Paul into the 
burning mass, we were hurried back by our guides, 
and so much had the lava advanced during our short 
absence, that it had filled the lower end of the valley 
through which we had passed, forming a vast lake, 
burning with fire and brimstone, and we had to make 
a long detour in order to reach "dry ground" again. 
We were so delighted with this day's experience 
and our safe return, that in getting into our carriage 
to depart, we incontinently distributed carlines to our 
Italian guides and bearers, until even Italian cupidity 
was satisfied, to the great indignation of Paul who 
carries the purse, and always quarrels at settlement 
" on principle," insisting that with the Italians — to 
dispute their demands commands respect. 

We drove rapidly down the mountain, and back to 
Naples, and at night found the sky strongly illumi- 
nated, by the fierce fires of Vesuvius, the light 
reflecting in long lines upon the bay, as we see 
painted in Italian pictures representing the volcano 
in action. 

The sublime and exciting scenes we had beheld, 
the dangers we had happily escaped, and the reflec- 
tions they induced, banished sleep from our eyelids. 
7 



74 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

We sat until long after midnight, gazing upon the 
distant burning mountain, and speculating upon the 
influence which such objects exercised over the 
opinions and literature of the ancients. There is 
hardly a doubt that the popular idea of hell and its 
torments sprang from such sources. 

The next day we devoted to Herculaneum and 
Pompeii, having previously spent a day at the "Mu- 
seo Borbonico," to examine the recovered statues, 
utensils, jewelry, tools, etc., etc., of that strange 
people. Cruel, lascivious, half-savage, yet in fine 
taste, elevated architecture and wonderful skill, how 
excellent ! So strange a thing is human nature. 
The same broad contrasts, however, can be seen 
around us here to-day, nor need the observing eye 
leave our own shores to detect the existence of al- 
most as wonderful and strange a contradiction. 

The Museo Borbonico possesses a very extensive 
collection of statues, bronzes, mosaics, frescoes, etc., 
recovered from Pompeii and Herculaneum. Some 
of the sculpture is supposed to be from the hands of 
Praxiteles and Phidias. The kitchen utensils, tools, 
saddlery, and articles of common use, resemble those 
of the present day in a remarkable degree. The 
sauce-pan, frying-pan and kettle, the kitchen lamp 



HERCULANEUM AND POMPEII. 75 

for grease, the steel-yards, scales and weights, many 
agricultural implements and surgical instruments, 
bells, pins, bodkins, thimbles, together with screws, 
latches, bolts, bridle bits, stirrups, etc., etc., are 
identical with those which we see to-day. Twenty cen- 
turies have produced no improvement in these things. 

Herculaneum and Pompeii lie south of Naples, be- 
tween Vesuvius and the Sea, and are reached by a 
beautiful drive along the shores of the Bay. Here one 
may see very little donkeys, with very long ears, bear- 
ing very large loads in panniers — a kind of chaise drawn 
by one horse his bridle decorated with feathers or gaudy 
ribbons, having but one seat inside, which is usually oc- 
cupied by a fat priest, yet sometimes eighteen people 
hanging on, under, and about it. This is a favo- 
rite vehicle with the Neapolitans, a kind of omnibus. 

Then there are pigs along the road side innocent 
of bristles, beggars ad infinitum ; sturdy ones too, 
sometimes thrusting the stump of a dismembered arm 
into the carriage as you pass ; others dragging them- 
selves under the very horses' feet, with wonderful 
activity, on their haunches, apparently unable to 
move otherwise; and all clamoring loudly for "monee 
signore." Swarms of priests, in three cornered hats 
and long black robes ; Carmelite friars, in serge, bare- 



76 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

headed and bare-footed ; soldiers of various uniforms 
on guard at every corner — lazzaroni lying around on 
pavements, curbstones everywhere — these three latter 
classes thick as leaves in Yallambrosa — fishermen 
mending nets, with red jaunty cap, falling over one 
side of the head, or lying asleep on their backs in 
their baskets — women earnestly engaged in studying 
the phrenological developments of each other, or their 
children — images of the Virgin and San Genarro, 
stuck up in niches everywhere, sometimes a candle 
burning before them, the gift of some repentant sin- 
ner ; macaroni hanging along the road-side to dry, 
like clothes upon the line ; women with curious head- 
dresses ; men and boys with curious costumes, 
some of the latter emulating that of Adam before the 
fall — all these and many other novel sights one 
sees in a ride to Pompeii. 

The entrance to the Theater of Herculaneum is 
down a narrow stairway about sixty feet, excavated 
through the lava, which, here, seems as hard as 
flint. Having reached the bottom we explored 
with torches, as in a mine, the corridors, &c. as far 
as they have been excavated. From thence we went 
to another portion of Herculaneum uncovered — 
having been like Pompeii buried under ashes. Here 



HERCULANEUM AND POMPEII. 77 

the ruins are quite interesting, but Pompeii is so 
much more so that they are rarely thought of after- 
wards. A large portion of Pompeii is uncovered, 
and the government is still progressing with the work. 
It is unnecessary to enter into a description of 
these interesting ruins, as they have been so often de- 
scribed before. But to see these magnificent temples 
now exposed to the eye, the carving and the marble de- 
corations, the frescoes, paintings and mosaics in perfect 
condition ; to see the very pavement of the streets 
worn into ruts three or four inches in depth by the 
wheels of their vehicles ; the public fountains of granite 
where they drank, worn by the hands to just the shape, 
and in just the place where ours now fitted ; the well 
worn stepping stones to cross the streets ; the marks 
of the very glasses on the marble counter of a drink- 
ing shop, where they were doubtless left when the 
alarm was given, these and many other things strike 
one very forcibly when he reflects that nearly two 
thousand years have passed away since these people 
lived, and that many years more were required to 
produce those undoubted marks we see of active use. 
We feel that our own country, as yet but a few hun- 
dred years of age, is exceedingly juvenile in compari- 
son. From what we had read and heard, we were 



78 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

not prepared to expect so much grandeur and magnifi- 
cence as the Forum, the Basilica, Temple of Jupiter, 
house of Castor and Pollux, that of the Tragic 
Poet, the villa of Diomede, the Tombs, &c, in- 
dicated, These all have more or less beautiful 
carvings, columns, frescoes, &c, still to be seen, 
although the most of the statues and smaller articles 
have been taken to the " Museo " at Naples. The 
beautiful pavements in the court yards, or "Atriums" 
of all these villas, of mosaics, of colored glass and 
marble, are still very perfect. The whole is intensely 
interesting. We turned from this " ancient of days " 
to visit the Amphitheatre which is a short walk dis- 
tant, and is in a good state of preservation ; the seats, 
the columns, and the whole structure, were originally 
covered with marble, but it is now gone — nothing is left 
but the naked walls of brick. It was capable of con- 
taining 40,000 persons. Beneath the seats were the 
cells for the beasts, and the corridors from whence 
emerged the gladiators who were " butchered to make 
a Roman holiday;" the grand entrances, the stairs, 
&c, are all to be clearly seen. After drinking some 
water from the original aqueduct which supplied 
Pompeii, and plucking some roses from the garden of 
Diomede, we returned to the city. 



CHAPTER IX. 

La Cava — Landscapes of Claude — Catching pigeons — Appe- 
nines — The blue Mediterranean — Romantic ride — Amalfi — 
Beggars — The St. Nicholas — Marsala — Sovreigns of America — 
Travelers' Book — Political spies — Mariners' Compass — Sa- 
lerno — Medical School— Railroads built without wheelbarrows 
— Silarus of the Greeks — Crassus and Spartacus — Ruins of 
Paestum — Its Origin — Roses of Paestum — Nocera — The vine — 
Castellamare — The Ancient Stabiae — Pliny the Elder. 

This morning we started upon a visit to the in- 
teresting coast south of Naples, including the an- 
cient ruins of Paestum, passing through the val- 
ley in which the old town of La Cava is situated, 
where Claude is said to have caught the beautiful 
tints and delicacy of coloring, which characterized 
his pictures. Observing stone towers erected along 
the hill sides, we learned upon inquiry that they were 
built for the purpose of catching pigeons. During 
the migrating season, men are stationed in these 
towers, who, on seeing a flock passing over their 
heads, sling a white stone in the direction of their 
nets spread beneath, which the birds follow and are 

(79 ) 



80 NOTES DEAWN AT SIGHT. 

entrapped in great numbers. La Cava is renowned 
for its vast collection of the ancient archives of the 
church, and of the medieval history of Italy ; over 
100,000 rolls are said to be contained in the monas- 
tery here. But we had neither taste nor time for 
musty parchments, and therefore, rode on to Amalfi. 
Our road at times, wound along the sides of the 
Appenines, which here overhang the Mediteranean. 
Sometimes we were a thousand feet above the water, 
the boats and fishing smacks with their white sails, 
looking like egg shells upon its intensely blue sur- 
face, — (bluer than we ever conceived it possible) un- 
der the vertical light of a bright midday sun. At 
others we descended into romantic little fishing vil- 
lages, nestling in the valleys, cliifs and mountains 
rising behind and around them two or three thousand 
feet in height, occasionally terraced nearly to their 
summits and planted in vines. The road is cut in 
the side of the mountain cliffs and precipices with 
wonderful skill and labor, and protected on the sea 
side by a substantial stone wall. The grades are 
easy, and with the towering mountains on one side, 
and the blue sea upon the other, it forms one of the 
most beautiful and romantic rides imaginable. These 
visions of beauty, however, soon vanished — as at 



traveler's book. 81 

Amain we were beset by more than, the usual crowd 
of beggars, caused, we presumed, by the thoughtless 
distribution of a few stray <j granos" which we found 
in our pocket. To give, in Italy, is to invite a 
swarm ; the citizens turn out en masse. And so, 
after a hurried survey of the old and quaint church 
of St. Andrew, the Apostle, (where his body is said 
to rest,) built in the Romanesque style, with many 
ancient columns and fragments adorning it, we were 
glad to jump into our carriage for safety, and by a 
free application of the whip to horses and beggars, 
promiscuously, to rid ourselves of their impor- 
tunity. 

We stopped, however, for a moment, at the Hotel 
des Capucines — the "St. Nicholas" of the village — 
to test the quality of the Marsala, which is said to 
be fine on this coast. As usual, the " Traveler's 
Book" was brought to us, in which to enter our 
names with our opinion of the accommodations. 

We duly recorded our party as a few of the 
" Sovereigns" of America — (suggested by the previ- 
ous entry of "Lord Fitzdoodle " and " Major Flun- 
key") — and gave our royal approbation of the 
Marsala, and our equally pointed detestation of Italian 
beggary. Further commentaries in Sanscrit upon 



82 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

the " institutions " of the country were suppressed 
by the combined prudence of the party, fearing 
some learned pundit of the Church might decypher 
them. 

Paul, our courier, was much alarmed at our 
writing on political subjects, declaring the priests, 
of whom he has a mortal horror, would translate any 
thing we might write, and that the minions of the 
tyrannical king would hunt us as political spies from 
one end of Italy to the other. We therefore tore 
out the page. 

Amalfi is a very unique place, situated at the 
mouth of a gorge, through which a stream rushes 
from .the high mountains which encircle it. It is in- 
accessible by land, except by the road which we 
have described. It was founded in the fourth cen- 
tury, by some exiled or shipwrecked Romans, and 
soon became an important commercial port, with 
fifty thousand inhabitants, and the first naval power 
in Europe. It is difficult to reconcile these claims 
of history with the very limited space it occupies ; 
but it is, at all events, admitted that we are in- 
debted to them for the introduction of the mari- 
ner's compass, and a great improvement in the 
maritime laws of their time, by which Amalfi earned 



SALERNO. 88 

the title of the Athens of the middle ages. It has 
now dwindled to a mere fishing village, celebrated 
only for its macaroni. 

We slept at Salerno, another interesting place on 
this coast, lying upon the beautiful gulf of the same 
name. It was distinguished in the medieval ages for 
its medical schools, and Gibbon describes it as an 
" illustrious city, in which the men were honest and 
the women beautiful." We fear, alas ! that all its 
other virtues have departed with the comeliness of 
its ladies. Its streets, like all Italian towns, are 
filthy, narrow and crooked, and without sidewalks. 
Two vehicles can scarcly pass each other, and the 
beggars, as usual, abound. On our way hither, we 
observed that many of the houses along the hill sides 
were built with arched stone roofs, like ovens, wood 
being a scarce commodity here. 

A railroad is in process of construction between Na- 
ples and this city, upon which we saw large numbers of 
women at work, promiscuously with men. The dirt 
and stone are carried in baskets on their heads, as, in- 
deed, the wheelbarrow seems to be an invention en- 
tirely unknown. Men were harnessed in small carts, 
transporting materials for the road. It is due to them 
to say, however, that their work is strong and well 



84 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

done, and would put to shame some of our hastily built 
structures. 

Every other day seems to be a fete day in Italy. 
One is in preparation here for to-morrow ; and a 
torch light procession is parading the streets, headed 
by priests, with the image of the Virgin borne aloft ; 
and with a cracked drum and trumpet, and the shoot- 
ing of squibs, making night hideous. Niches, con- 
taining pictures of our Savior, or the Virgin, orna- 
ment every cross-road, and are stuck up every where 
through the country, before which the devout 
peasantry cross themselves in passing. They are 
never permitted to be out of sight of the emblems of 
their faith. The old Cathedral of Salerno, founded 
by Robert Guiscard, the Norman, is interesting as 
the depository of many of the ancient columns and 
bas-reliefs of Paestum ; and it is claimed that in 
its crypt lies the body of the Evangelist, St. Mat- 
thew, said to have been brought here in 930. The 
bodies of Pope Hildebrand or Gregory VII, and 
Margaret of Anjou, also, are said to be here. 

The next morning we drove to Paestum, twenty- 
four miles, over a fine road through a level campagna, 
for many years a sickly waste, but now well culti- 
vated, even around the very ruins themselves. 



CRASSUS AND SPARTACUS. 85 

We passed the ancient Silarus of the Greeks, in a 
rude boat. It is a swift and turbid stream, celebra- 
ted for its calcareous incrustations, and at its mouth, 
"where it empties into the Mediterranean, formerly 
stood the celebrated Temple of Juno, erected by 
Jason and the Argonauts. It was upon the plain 
lying between this classic stream and Paestum, the 
ancient Poseidonia of the Greeks, that the great bat- 
tle was fought between the Roman General, Crassus, 
and Spartacus, the Gladiator, in which the latter 
was slain with 40,000 of his followers. 

The situation was fine for a city ; the plain is some 
six or eight miles in width at this point, backed bj a 
range of mountains, and seems well watered and of 
rich soil. We were not a little surprised to find the 
country so well settled, and a fine baronial castle or 
villa, within the area of the city walls ; as, from all 
we had read, we supposed the ancient site was still a 
wilderness. Men and women were at work in the 
fields, in gangs, directed by an overseer, like our south- 
ern slaves and apparently no higher in civilization. 
The ruins of Paestum are very remarkable for their 
great antiquity and fine preservation. They consist 
chiefly of three extensive temples, with columns, 
architrave, &c, still standing, built of travitine, a 



86 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

kind of porDus rock of the plain. The marbles of 
the interior having been plundered from time to time 
to build and decorate the churches of the neighboring 
towns, nothing is left but the naked columns, mark- 
ing, by their architectural proportions, the early age 
to which these ruins belong. The origin of the 
city is not well known, though attributed by some to 
the Phoenicians, the Etruscans, and by others the hon- 
or is given even to Shem or Ham. It is more probable, 
however, that it was founded by the Greeks, about 
600 years before Christ. While we were there some 
fine old marble columns were discovered built in the 
little church of the neighborhood ; they were of verd- 
antique and porphyry, and were doubtless covered 
with masonry and plaster to preserve them in past 
years from the hands of the spoilers who plundered 
these ruins. 

We gathered some acanthus leaves within the tem- 
ples, as a memento, but saw none of the roses or 
violets which bloomed twice a year and so charmed 
the latin poets. It was while visiting these ruins 
that an English gentleman and his wife were mur- 
dered, many years ago, by banditti, — a Mr. and Mrs. 
Hunt. 

On our return we visited the old Church of St. 



CASTELLEMARE. 87 

Maria Maggiore, near Nocera. It is circular and 
said to have been an old Pagan temple, dedicated 
to Christian worship by Constantine, the first Chris- 
tian Emperor. This is shown by its Latin inscriptions, 
while its Greek inscriptions equally attest its Pagan 
origin. Twenty-eight beautiful columns, of the 
rarest marbles, alabaster, verd antique, porphyry, 
&c, adorn its interior. It is now being repaired by 
the King of Naples, without, however, destroying 
any thing of its original character or form. All is 
preserved with scrupulous care. 

The road from Nocera to Castellemare passes 
through a beautiful valley, the hills crowned with 
ruins of ancient medieval castles and the lower slopes 
highly cultivated in vines and fruits, and studded 
with country villas. The vine is not grown here 
upon stakes as in France and America, but trained 
laterally on tall poles about ten feet above the 
ground, (which is cultivated beneath) and hangs in 
long festoons, looking very beautiful. We observed 
men in the vineyards on ladders, blowing sulphur 
upon the diseased grapes, with a bellows, which seems 
to be the treatment adopted here, as elsewhere in 
Europe. Castellemare, the ancient Stabiae, where 



88 NOTES DttAWN AT SIGHT. 

the elder Pliny lost his life,* lies upon the bay of 
Naples, south or west of Pompeii, and was over- 
whelmed by the same eruption which destroyed the 
latter. We passed through this place on our way 
still further around the curve of the bay to Sorrento, 
where we designed to spend the night. 

* The elder Pliny, being in command of the Eoman fleet, lying at Misenium — dis- 
tant about fifteen or twenty miles from Pompeii at the time of its destruction, moved 
•with the noble impulse of succouring the appalled and flying inhabitants, crossed 
the bay in a small boat, and landing at Stabiae and attaching a pillow upon the 
top of his head to protect him from the cinders and calcined stones, which were 
falling around, ventured out into the fields where he was overwhelmed or suffo- 
cated by the noxious vapors, and perished. 



CHAPTER X. 

Sorrento — View of the Bay of Naples — Islands — Olive Trees — 
Orange Groves — Hotel des Sirens — The Home of Tasso — Grotto 
Azzura — Fairy Scene — The Sirens — Ears stopped — Lucky 
escape — Poetical story of Ulysses — Gardens of Tasso — A 
Pertinacious Friar — The D — 1 outwitted — English "is Spook 7 
— Naples Illuminated — Illumination of Vesuvius. 

We came from Castellemare to Sorrento last evening. 
The road, like that to Amalfi, is cut along the pre- 
cipituous mountains, which here approach the bay, 
and in some respects it affords a still more agreeable 
prospect. The beautiful Bay of Naples, about which 
so much has been written, lay spread out before us, 
with the city lying in the distant curve, some twenty 
miles or more away, and the various towns which 
line its shores, gleaming in the setting sun. Vesuvius 
was in full view, pouring upward its everlasting cloud 
of smoke., and now from the lava of the recent erup- 
tion, his whole giant bulk was enveloped as with a 
pall, down nearly to the base. 

Then the beautiful islands of Ischia, Capri, Nicida, 

. (89) 



90 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

&c, breaking the monotony of the seaward view, 
made up, altogether, a panorama not excelled, if 
equalled any where else in the world. We passed 
through extensive groves, of olive trees, which here 
cover the mountain sides to their summits. Some- 
times the road crossed deep chasms, on stone bridges, 
resting on double rows of arches — the work of the 
present King, who has stamped himself as a man of 
energy, at least, by this and other similar works. 

Sorrento, as we wound around the mountain, lay at 
our feet, embowered in orange and lemon trees, the 
ancient Sorrentum of the Romans ; then, as now, the 
delightful resort of the population of these regions, 
to enjoy tbe heautiful scene here spread out to the 
eye. As we drove rapidly down the mountain and 
emerged upon the u Piano di Sorrento" or plain, the 
fragrance of its groves of orange, lemon and citron 
trees saluted us ; soon lost, however, in the narrow, 
filthy streets, from which the gardens are all sepa- 
ted by high walls. 

We drove to the Hotel des Sirens, the birthplace 
of Tasso. This town has some interesting ruins, 
and in its Cathedral are some ancient marbles of the 
Greek and Roman Temples, both of which, in ancient 
times, occupied this spot. The Greeks called it Sy- 



GROTTO AGGURA. 91 

rentum, from the Isles of the Sirens, which lie near 
here, and which, as is known, are immortalized by 
Homer in the Odyssey. 

We enjoyed a pleasant night with the Sirens, and 
unanimously agreed that they were ladies of decided 
taste in the selection of their isles. Our hotel is 
perched upon the edge of a cliff, some three or four 
hundred feet above the water, and we were lulled 
to sleep by the gentle murmur of the waves beneath. 
The next morning we took a six oared galley, and 
were rowed to the island of Capri, about ten miles 
distant to see the Grotto Azzurra, or Blue Grotto. 
The weather was calm, and favorable ; it can only 
be entered when the water is smooth. The entrance 
is in the face of a bold mountain cliff, inaccessible 
except by water, and barely large enough to admit a 
small boat, the occupants lying flat ; but, once within, 
it opens in a circular form to one hundred and sixty 
feet diameter ; the arched dome rising to forty feet 
above the water, the depth of which is said to be 
forty or fifty feet. It is so transparent that the white 
pebbles and fragments of coral on the bottom were 
quite visible. It is a remarkable natural curiosity. 
The sunlight refracted through the narrow opening, 
the only entrance, about midday, passing through 



92 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

the blue water of the Mediterranean, lights up the 
whole interior into the most delicate and beautiful 
azure shades imaginable. No conception of a fairy 
grotto, ever dreamed by poet or described in fairy 
tale, excels this. The watery floor, becomes a 
bright silvery blue, deepening at the farther end to a 
clear lapis lazuli ; the slightest movement of the oar 
scatters pearls far and wide over its polished surface, 
and anything immersed is at once set in silver, 
while above, the overarching dome seems glowing with 
sapphires. 

An opening appears in the back part of the grotto, 
apparently an interior artificial communication, sup- 
posed to have led up to some of the Temples of the 
Greeks or Romans, who, in ancient times inhabited 
the island. But it has never been fully explored, 
as it is but a few years only, since the existence of 
the grotto became known to the present inhabitants. 

Having sufficiently enjoyed this fairy like-scene, 
we again emerged into the sunlight, and hoisting sail 
to catch the soft air of this delicious clime, we were 
wafted back to Sorrento, in a highly poetic and 
oriental mood, dreaming of Aladdins and Cinderellas 
all the way. 

Seeing three aquatic birds sailing around us, we 



LUCKY ESCAPE. 93 

at once determined theni to be the three Sirens who 
inhabited hereabout in olden time. These, their 
spirits, were, from their motion, skimming the water 
before us, and lovingly caressing our bowsprit, evi- 
dently endeavoring to change the direction of our 
prow, and entice us to their isle, there to make a 
meal of us. Handkerchiefs, gloves, &c, were in im- 
mediate requisition, and our ears were carefully 
stopped against the charms of their melodeous voices. 
But my compagnons de voyage, Harry, and even 
Mentor, were disposed, for a time, to yield and fol- 
low them. A dreamy langor overcame them, but by 
the proper application of a little cold water, mixed 
with " suthin " stimulating, which I happened (as 
usual) to have in my pocket, aided by Paul, (poor 
man,) 

declaring all the while, 

He saw but three sea gulls and a barren isle ; 

they were prevented from leaping overboard and 
following these mysterious sirens to their certain 
destruction. On reaching our hotel, and partaking 
of an excellent lunch, with some of the fine vin du 
pays, so praised by Pliny and the Roman poets, 
our spirits were fully restored, and we all felt 
grateful for our narrow escape from these female 



94 NOTES DKAWN AT SIGHT. 

cannibals. The story of Ulysses and the Sirens 
is rather amusingly told in the following, which. 
I cut partly from the " Traveler's " Book. 

CANTO DELLE SIRENE ANTICHE. 

E. MODERNE. 

The day was dull, detestable and dreary, 

And all the crew were rather more than weary 

With that day's long, uninteresting row, 

For they had pulled a thousand miles or so. 

As time wore on, the wind began to rise, 

In fitful gusts and short promiscuous sighs; 

The oars they ship, and then themselves betake, 

As slow as possible, all haste to make, 

Their sails to set — (two handkerchiefs there were, 

A plaid and shirt) to catch the wanton air. 

These classic sails the bellowing winds did strain, 

The bark, obedient, dashes o'er the main. 

Ulysses, pensive, on his footbath sits, 

And chews a cabbage, spitting out the bits. 

A nursery story dances in his head, 

A tale forbidden, (which, of course, he 'd read,) 

Describing how, upon a fatal shore, 

Three maidens lived, who fed on human gore ; 

They sang so well, and looked so very nice, 

That all who heard were vanquished in a trice, 

And, willing victims, swift embrace their fate, 

And rush on death — desirous to be ate— 



POETICAL STORY. 95 

They strangled were, and then of life bereft, 
The Sirens fed, till nothing more was left; 
Their bones they grilled, reserving but alone 
Their metacarps, to play at knuckle-bone. 
This was the tale, Ulysses knew it well, 
And, though he thought the eating part a sell, 
Yet he loved music, and (so goes the story,) 
Swore he 'd hear them sing the " Trovatore." 
Then, thus his crew the hero brief addressed : 
" You lubber hounds ! may all of you be blessed ; 
There live, hard by, three very pretty girls, 
With glancing eyes and fairy waving curls. 
And, above all — their voices are so mellow, 
That they take in each unsuspecting fellow. 
But ' Murray' warns us they are prone to jilt, 
And if we go there, blood may p'raps be spilt. 
To hinder this, then, stop each stupid fool, 
Each ass's ears, with wax or cotton wool, 
Two pounds for each, I think, will be enough, 
"Which, with an oar or handspike you may stuff ; 
But if it chances this should not suffice, 
Some sea-weed take, so, be not over nice. 
Myself alone, will hear these Prima Donnas ; 
But, with this view, I charge you on your honors, 
And as you hope for wine and macaroni, 
Obey your chief and stick by your old crony. 
And should their charms make me become too civil, 
Your skipper tie, lest he skip to the Devil ; 
Nor heed the threats or promises excited, 
Of one whose eyes and ears are too delighted." 



96 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

These timely cautions given, they shortly see 

The lovely form of fair Parthenope ; * 

Upon the rocks she stood, and as she sung, 

Ulysses, charmed, upon her accents hung. 

So fair her face, so rapturing her song, 

He swore he 'd land and prove the story wrong ; 

Ligeia and Leucosia, too, with flute and lyre, 

Woo the soft winds 'till even they expire. 

Put down the helm ! he cried, but faithful Jack 

Had stuffed his ears, nor left a single crack ; 

The sails hung idly — for the wind had died — 

The rudder useless — drifting with the tide 

The vessel rolls first bow, then stern to shore, 

The shirt and 'kerchiefs are of use no more ; 

No chance remains, Ulysses cried, for me, 

But Leander like, to jump into the sea : 

And, swimming to the shore through this 'ere brine, 

The fair Parthenope may yet be mine ; 

With this intent, his boots he 'gan to draw, 

His coat to strip — all this his jacktars saw; 

And jndging right of his design, at last 

* Parthenope, Ligeia and Leucosia, were the three Sirens— daughters of the 
muse Calliope. They were informed by the oracle, that as soon as any person 
passed them without being charmed by their songs, they should perish ; and their 
melody had prevailed over all passers by, until Ulysses, informed of the power of 
their voices by Circe, stopped the ears of his companions with wax, and ordered 
himselfto be tied to the mast of his ship, and no attention to be paid to his com- 
mands, should he wish to listen to their song. This was a salutary precaution, and 
Ulysses passed the fatal coast in safety, whereupon the outwitted Sirens threw 
hemselves into the sea, and were drowned. They are represented, one with a 
lyre, the other with a flute and the third singing. By some others they are sup- 
posed to have been monsters, having the body of a woman above the waist, and 
the restt like that of a bird. Tide Homer. 



ENGLISH IS SPOOK. 97 

All rush upon and tie him to the mast. 
The music ceased — the bellying sails again 
Press the good ship along the raging main ; 
Thus was he rescued from an end so gory, 
To hand us down this interesting story ; 
And thus the Sirens, (so the legends say,) 
Thro' lack of dinner, pined themselves away. 

We strolled a few moments in the gardens of 
Tasso, filled with the aloe, the acacia, the carouba, 
and service tree, the orange, lemon, citron, &c. 
Here he returned after his seven years imprisonment 
at Ferrara, to visit his beloved sister, and he de- 
scribes the air as so serene and temperate as almost 
to make man immortal. 

A most pertinacious Friar followed us about, ask- 
ing alms, to pray certain souls out of purgatory. We 
contributed a few carlines under the assurance that 
they just made up the amount necessary to save the 
souls and cheat the d — 1 of his prey. 

Taking our carriage we returned to Naples, grati- 
fied with our excursion. We find Vesuvius has be- 
come very active since our departure ; the lava 
reaches nearly to the sea, and we contemplate a 
night excursion thither. 

We find no difficulty in our ignoranee of Italian, as 
9 



NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 



at every hotel, and nearly all the stores, French is 
spoken. The following sign or card handsomely 
framed adornes the saloon of this hotel: 



Zempdt — Coiffeur et parfeumer, 
28, Strada di San Carlo, 

French, English, German and Italian is spook. 



To-day (Sunday) is the anniversary of the birth 
of the King, and the city is brilliantly illuminated. 
Thousands of little paper lanthorns are hung in 
various fantastic forms, entirely covering the fronts 
of some of the public buildings, and suspended 
across the narrow streets in festoons, making them 
look like grottoes of light, very fairy-like. Some of 
the churches are illuminated from "turret to founda- 
tion stone," over the dome and to the top of the 
cross. The streets are full of people, on foot and in 
carriages, to witness the spectacle. The interest, 
however, seems to be divided between the real and 
artificial illumination, for Vesuvius is pouring the lava 
down his sides almost to the sea, and lighting up the 
sky and bay for miles around. The fiery streams 
show very vividly and beautifully from Naples, all 
in plain view from the streets near the shore, and 
seemed quite as attractive to the Neapolitans as to 



Vesuvius 99 

strangers, as crowds throng the quay to gaze upon 
them. 

This afternoon we threaded our way through the 
narrow streets — (which, though well paved with 
square blocks of granite, have no side walks) — to 
several of the finest churches, and saw the statuary, 
fine frescoes, rare mosaics, costly marbles, and every 
kind of lavish expenditure, the coinage of the tears 
and groans of a down trodden and decaying people. 



CHAPTER XI. 

The Solfatara — Pandemonium — Lake Avernus — Pozzuoli — Cu- 
mai — Baie — Temple of Jupiter Serapis — Land of flowers — ■ 
Lucrine oysters — Italian cupidity — A funeral — A wedding 
— Vesuvius by night — San Gennaro the Patron Saint — Lava 
extended — Vineyards destroyed — A Sea of Fire — A fiery Nia- 
gara — Pyrotechnics of the Gods — Young America on Vesuvius 
— An Alarm — Escape — Safety. 

To-day we turned westward, and passing out of 
the city through the Grotto di Posilippo, visited the 
Solfatara, an extinct volcano, or rather semi-extinct, 
as from a cave on one side of the crater there issues 
a constant blast of sulphuretted steam, so hot that 
the hand can not be held near it, while the ground 
around it burns the feet. This crater is about 1J 
miles in circumference and the walls are about 300 
feet high — the interior a level plain grown up in 
shrubs. Many portions of the surface seem to be 
almost pure sulphur and large quantities are here 
manufactured. 

While walking about examining the dreary circu- 
lar walls which hemmed us in, shining with the 
(100) 



LAKE AVERNUS 101 

glossy scurf of sulphur fumes, we thought of the Pan- 
demonium of Milton, and of that 

" Universe of death : which God by curse 
Created evil, for evil only good ; 
Where all life dies, death lives, and nature breeds 
Perverse, all monstrous, all prodigious things 
Abominable, inutterable ; and worse 
Than fables yet have feigned, or fear conceived 
Gorgons, and Hydras, and Chimeras dire." 

The figure became still more vivid, when our guide 
raising a huge stone and throwing it suddenly upon 
the burnt soil, made it quiver and undulate beneath 
our feet. We were evidently walking upon the 
crust of a burning lake and hurriedly retreating we 
entered our carriage and drove to Lake Avernus. 
This lake is familiar to all through the poetry of 
Greece and Rome ; and is also evidently an extinct 
crater, but being as low as the sea has become filled 
with water. The Odyssey, as translated by Pope, 
says of Lake Avernus : 

" Here Phlegethon's loud torrents rushing down, 
Hiss in the flowing gulf of Acheron ; 
And where slow rolling from the Stygian bed, 
Cocytus' lamentable waters spread : 
Where the dark rock o'erhangs the infernal lake, 
And mingling streams eternal murmurs wake." 

It has been sounded and found to be 500 feet deep 
in the center ; and is also about 1 J miles in circum- 



102 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT 

ference. Under Agrippa it was connected with the 
sea by a canal, and became a harbor for the whole 
Roman fleet; some of the ancient works are still 
visible. The present King of Naples undertook to 
reopen and rebuild this canal, but the work is now 
wisely abandoned, as there is neither commerce nor 
fleet to need this basin ; nor is there likely to be un- 
til the present effete race has passed away and a 
more energetic one develops the resources of the 
country, untrammelled by a swarming, lazy priest- 
hood, and a wretched monarchy who devour the 
substance of the land while the masses starve. We 
visited Pozzuoli, Cumai and Baie, where the ancient 
Romans loved to resort in the summer months to 
their luxurious villas by the seaside, to enjoy bathing 
and the sea breeze. Here Virgil laid the scenes of 
the -ZEneid, and Caesar, Nero, Hadrian, Cicero, and 
other great names in Roman history had their villas : 
and Horace sung its praises in his odes. Their palaces 
extended partly over the sea, and from the cliffs 
which here approach the shore, hot medicinal or sul- 
phur water was obtained, which had a high reputa- 
tion with the Romans for curing diseases. These 
baths are described by Pliny. The ruins all along 
this beach are very extensive and are seen far be- 



r POZZUOLE. 103 

neath the sea, and in that of Jupiter Serapis, at 
Pozzuoli, some very singular changes have occurred, 
it having been at one time sunk by an earthquake 
about ten feet under water, and since raised again by 
similar means, as is very evident from the sea-marks 
on the beautiful columns of African marble — which 
still stand on their original bases. This is one of 
the most interesting ruins in Italy and in fine pre- 
servation. 

After testing the merits of the celebrated Lucrine 
oysters, so highly prized by the Romans, (though it 
was at once evident that they had never tasted the 
Baltimore,) we visited the Elysian fields and Sybil's 
cave, examining another amphitheater, that of Poz- 
zuoli ; then along the shores of this beautiful bay, 
observing everywhere the remains, in the hill-sides, 
of the ancient people who formerly inhabited this 
land, we reached our hotel in time for a late dinner. 
Naples presents quite as many attractions to the 
connoisseur in old ruins as any part of Italy, or, in- 
deed, the world. The very earth around the city 
teems with ancient remains, and the ashes of the 
dead, and no doubt literally here 

"Great Caesars clay- 
Oft stops a hole to keep the wind away." 



104 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

This is the land of flowers and fruits. We never 
leave our hotel to ride without being beset by bouquet 
venders, and our only salvation is to buy at once — 
price, one carlini, (eight cents), quantity, one half 
bushel; variety, roses, geraniums, verbenas, helio- 
tropes, pinks, myrtles, &c, &c. We live (when in 
our chambers) in an atmosphere of perfume ; we 
can not say as much for the streets. Cherries and 
strawberries are both fine and cheap. Apricots and 
figs not yet ripe, though abundant in their season. 

Every thing here has to be carefully bargained for 
before hand. Liberality is a virtue they do not un- 
derstand ; it but excites their cupidity. Soap is a 
luxury unknown in the hotels and bathing houses, 
and must be especially purchased at each place. . 

Last evening we again ascended Vesuvius to wit- 
ness the lava current by night. On the way we 
met a funeral ; the corpse was exposed under a 
canopy, and carried on the shoulders of four men, 
preceded by a procession of priests, bearing lighted 
candles, their heads covered by a sort of cowl of 
white cloth, having holes for the eyes, and descending 
to the breast. The empty coffin was carried behind 
on the shoulders of a man, and the procession was 
led by one bearing the image of our Savior and the 



THE PATRON SAINT. 105 

cross. A few minutes after we met a bridal party, 
the ladies dressed gaily in orange colored shawls, 
decorated with flowers and bearing huge boquets in 
their hands. 

At the foot of the mountain we found a procession 
of priests and nuns descending, bearing aloft the 
image of San Genarro, life size, which they had borne 
up to the advancing tide of lava to stay its progress, 
as he is their patron Saint. A crowd of women 
followed, chanting, and a soldier preceded the whole 
with a drawn sword, clearing the road and command- 
ing all to dismount from their carriages and uncover. 
On being told we were Englese, we were permitted 
to draw up along side of the road and retain our 
seats. Paul and the driver, not being Englese, how- 
ever, were obliged to dismount instanter : we uncov- 
ered and the procesion passed on. 

We saw thousands on the way up, in carriages 
and on foot, bearing torches, which glittered along 
the winding road upon the mountain-side, like so 
many fire-flies ; while high above all shone the red 
glare of the burning lava upon the clouds and smoke 
which hung around the crater. 

The lava had extended some three or four 

miles since our last visit, passing down two 
10 



106 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

ravines, between which our road lay to the Her- 
mitage, or "half way house." The two currents 
were still slowly moving along, setting the heavens 
all aglow, and where the ground was precipitous, 
falling over in fiery cascades ; the cinders and 
scoria which cooled on the surface and w r ere borne 
along with it, sounding, when they fell like the 
rush of many waters. 

Several fine vineyards and some farm houses had 
been destroyed by the lava in the Fosso Grande 
flowing toward San Giorgio and also in the valley 
leading in the direction of Resina. We found an 
immense crowd at the Hermitage, and the stench of 
the burning sulphur almost suffocating. Mentor 
with his accustomed prudence declined going further; 
so leaving our carriage we grasped Harry tightly by 
the hand and pressed on through the thick smoke 
which every where surrounded us Walking briskly 
along the narrow ledge, on either side of which 
flowed the two streams referred to, we reached 
the point or cape which extended out into and divided 
the main stream. Here the angry flood was spend- 
ing its fury, and beating in vain upon the rocks. 
The lava and scoria had been shoved like ice cakes 
upon the shore and piled up twenty feet in hight. 



LAVA EXTENDED. 107 

Although still hot, and the red glow shining through 
the crevices, we clambered upon these cakes, still 
holding Harry by the hand, in order to see fully the 
great river which w T as flowing beyond, concealed from 
view by the debris piled along its banks. Mounting 
to the top and moving about to keep the scoria from 
burning our feet, we beheld a sight which threw our 
former experience utterly in the shade. * * * * 
The grisly top of Vesuvius " belched fire and roll- 
ing smoke " high above our heads, and as far as the 
vision could extend, the valley through which we 
had so recklessly and thoughtlessly passed, but a few 
days before, was now a vast sea of glowing fire. Its 
shores were lighted up by lurid flames as the lava 
permeated amongst the rocks, licking up every com- 
bustible object and bearing along upon its seething 
bosom black cakes of scoria, like drift logs upon the 
current of the Mississippi. This frozen lava, these 
icebergs of a flowing volcano, ground against the 
projecting cape upon which we stood and piled up in 
huge masses upon the shore at our feet, all dripping 
with liquid fire. Upon either hand each of the two 
streams into which the main body here divided, fell 
tumbling down a precipice, a fiery Niagara, with a fair 
imitation of its roar ; and instead of mist and foam 



108 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

sending up fiery scintillations as each floating block of 
scoria was precipitated into the abyss below and 
pushed on toward the sea. This was a pyrotechnical 
exhibition worthy of the fabled gods of Greece and 
Rome in their palmiest days, and so sublime and ter- 
rific a spectacle had not been seen at Vesuvius for 
many years. We shall long remember it. 

While we stood upon these projecting crags of 
cooled lava, in an atmosphere nearer Tartarus than 
we ever hope to experience again, speculating 
inwardly upon the wonderful scene, and wishing that 
our many friends at home were present to witness it, 
we heard among the half-uttered Italian exclama- 
tions around us, in good Anglo-Saxon, " This beats 
Niagara all hollow;" and what was our surprise to 
find, standing out beyond us, upon the farthest crag 
which overtopped the fiery flood, half hidden in 
smoke, "Young America," in the persons of two young 
Alabamians, who had ventured here a little farther 
than any one else dared to, in the true spirit of our 
people, to be the foremost on all occasions. 

On our return to the Hermitage we thought for a 
moment that the crater had broken loose again, as in 
the days of Pompeii, and that we should be buried 
here beneath cinders, ashes and scoria. The im- 



AN ALARM. 109 

mense heat had so rarified the atmosphere above us, 
as to cause a great rush of wind up the valleys, al- 
most lifting us from our feet as we picked our way 
back along the ridge to our party ; and what with 
the roaring of the wind and the scattering of sand 
and gravel around us, we had a pretty good idea of 
the feelings of the Pompeiians when they were so 
suddenly overwhelmed. We felt at first badly fright- 
tened and clasping Harry, determined to die together. 
But self-preservation, was very strong with both 
of us, and soon putting our locomotive appara- 
tus into active operation, we escaped across the nar- 
row ridge, reaching our friends in safety. 

On descending the mountain we got into what the 
Italians call an " imbroglio," the carriages bound up 
had become blocked in the narrow road with those 
bound down, detaining us an hour, and it was long 
after midnight when we reached our hotel. 



CHAPTER XII. 

A decaying Nation — The Appian Way — Capua — The Formian 
Villa of Cicero — His Tomb — Brigands — Robbery in the moun- 
tains of Itri — Lost luncheon — Fondi — Countess Gonzaga — 
Terracina — The Palace of Theodoric — Pontine Marshes — Au- 
gustan Canal — Long horned Roman cattle — Appii Forum — 
Sacred ground — Albano — Roman Campagna — Aqueducts. 

Haying two vacant seats in the "vettura" which 
we had engaged to transport us to Rome, we admit- 
ted into our party Messrs. N. B. and M. Jones, of 
Alabama, whom we had so singularly encountered 
on Vesuvius. 

We left Naples with no regret, for although its 
situation is the loveliest in the world, and its warm 
climate tempered in summer by the cool breezes of 
the Mediterranean, is delightful, the annoyance of 
fleas, filthy streets and beggars, is such that after 
our curiosity was gratified by a few days' residence, 
we were glad to find ourselves en route for the 
Eternal City. 

It is hardly fair to judge of the political condi- 
tion of a country from so short an experience, but 

( no ) 



CAPUA. Ill 

I must say, it constantly occurred to me that this 
government is fully up to the capacities and wants of 
the people. That it is a decaying nation, there can- 
not be a shadow of doubt ; it must become extinct, 
must pass away, and a more energetic race oc- 
cupy the country. To attempt any political or 
religious reform with this people, would be as 
Quixotic as to undertake the restoration of their 
ruins to their original splendor. They must re- 
main like those ruins, the resort of oivls and 
bats, until they crumble to the earth. There is no 
political or religious vitality whatever, in this part of 
Italy, at least. With a soil and climate equal to that of 
any other country on the globe, they have neither 
commerce, manufactures, nor intelligent agriculture. 
Their working masses are really below the slaves of 
our Southern States ; and were it not that their 
condition is clearly traceable to the iron heel 
which has been so long upon their necks, one 
would prefer to try the problem of human life, with 
the slavery of our own land — anomaly as it is in the 
institutions of a country professedly free — rather 
than with these debased people. 

Our route lay through the ancient Capua, whose 
noble women, when the City was sacked by Caesar 



112 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

Borgia, in 1500, preferring virtue to dishonor, threw 
themselves into the river, when five thousand of the 
inhabitants were put to the sword. Thence we pur- 
sued the old Appian Way, still visible, and passing 
St. Agata, also an old and interesting town, we 
reached the river Garigliano, the ancient Liris, whose 
meandering and sluggish stream is so sweetly sung by 
Horace, and upon whose banks, at the very spot we 
crossed, he writes that he met Virgil and his other 
friends. A drive of a few miles brought us to the 
ruins of Minturnae, still near the stream, where 
Marins concealed himself among the rushes, from 
the pursuit of Sylla. It was upon the modern bridge 
at this place, that the Chevalier Bayard performed 
such prodigies of valor in 1503, in defending it suc- 
cessfully, single-handed, against two hundred Span- 
ish cavalry. We dined at the Villa Caposele, the 
Formian Villa of Cicero, in the town of Mola di 
Gaete. This was the favorite residence of the great 
Roman orator, and where he held his renowned con- 
ferences with Pompey and Scipio. The old Roman 
masonry of the villa may yet be seen ; the beauti- 
ful bay and mountains, which so charmed Homer, 
Virgil, and Horace, and in after years Plutarch, still 
greet the eye, and the fountain of Artocia still flows 



BRIGANDS. 113 

silently to the sea where Ulysses met the fair daughter 
of the king of the Laestrygones. 

Having tasted the fine wine of the district, doubt- 
less as fine now as when Horace praised its delicate, 
flavor, we drove on to Terracina. A short distance 
from the Villa of Cicero, we passed his tomb, a huge 
monument of reticulated brick work, built, as was the 
custom of the time, bordering the Appian Way. It still 
is, and seems likely to remain for many years, a con- 
spicuous object in the landscape. We plucked a wild 
rose and a branch of ivy, with both of which it was 
covered, as sacred mementos of this classic spot; for 
whether truly his tomb or not, here was his favorite 
retreat, where he often retired, from the excitements 
of Rome. 

We now entered the region so famed, in times past, 
as the haunt of robbers, and especially as the head 
quarters of Fra Diavolo, (Michael Pezza) — who,about 
the year 1800, here levied tribute on the passing 
traveler. Stories of all sorts of robberies were 
freely indulged in, and as we entered the mountain 
denies of Itri, our hair began gradually to assume a 
perpendicular. True, we had laid in creature com- 
forts for the voyage, strapping them on behind our 
carriage, but weapons we had none, a pistol being a 



114 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

contraband article in Italy. Two bottles however were 
in the pockets of the coach — they were seized, to be 
used should occasion require. Our spirits rose with the 
occasion, (although they sensibly declined in the 
bottles.) Mentor suggested that brigandage had been 
the pastime of the inhabitants of this district from 
time immemorial. We replied that they had aban- 
doned the " stand and deliver " practice, and now 
opened " Locandas and Albergoes' along the way, 
where they could fleece the unwary traveler under 
cover of law. Mentor, however, had felt robbers all 
day, and all our attempts at badinage were useless. 
To make matters worse, it began to grow suddenly 
dark, and with all his accustomed bravery, he could 
now illy conceal his fears ; but expecting either 
the ghost of a murdered traveler, or a living 
robber, to spring out of the numerous caves which 
here yawned upon us from the cliffs, or from behind 
the gloomy rocks which lined our path, he continued 
to peer anxiously forward, as far as the gloom would 
permit, evidently expecting a " guet apens" at every 
turn of the road. The black and angry clouds which 
had been gathering around the mountains of Itri, for 
the past hour, now began to concentrate over our 
heads in one vast pall; huge drops came patter- 



LOST LUNCHEON. 115 

ing down upon the top of the carriage, sounding, as 
Mentor said, like " clods upon a coffin." Our 
thoughts were lugubrious, decidedly. The wind came 
sighing up the valleys in fitful gusts — the muttering 
thunder began to play at nine-pins amongst the dis- 
tant hills — and every moment we expected an at- 
tack, when suddenly there fell upon our excited ears 
the tramp of a horseman — '• a solitary horseman" 
far in the rear, urging his steed rapidly towards us. 

Barbarossa ! exclaimed Harry ; Fra Diavolo ! added 
Mentor, while our Alabama friends, with teeth firmly 
set, and bottles firmly clasped, seemed determined to 
sell their lives (or the liquor) as dearly as possible, 
trusting that if the fray occurred, some of the Naples 
brandy, with which the bottles were charged, might 
reach the robbers lips ; this they kuew would be fatal. 

On sped our foaming steeds. Our driver was 
promised "buono mano" liberally on reaching a place 
of safety. The distant village of Fondi, was visible 
in the plain below, and we were congratulating each 
other that such 2:40 speed would defy all the rob- 
bers in Italy, when suddenly an attack was made 
upon our rear, and the brigand, with his keen blade, 
cut our luncheon basket from the " vettura," and be- 
fore we had time to recover from our alarm, and 



116 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

bring our " forlorn hope," the brandy bottles, to bear 
upon him, he was off with his booty to the mountains. 

Having reached the plain, we stopped to blow our 
panting steeds, and note damages. We found our 
party, including courier and vetturino, decidedly 
frightened — Mentor excessively so — but all (as the 
danger was past) beginning to look courageous. One, 
whom modesty forbids us to name, alone remained cool. 

Missing : — One luncheon basket, containing — 

Item 1. — 50 feet uncut prepared macaroni. 
" 2. — 5 loaves. 

" 3. — 2 cans small fishes, (in oil.) 
u 4. — 5 bottles Marsala, (choice quality.) 
" 5. — 1 bunch Naples — " by authority" cigars, 
the latter we sincerely wish the robber more 
comfort in smoking than we were ever able to extract 
from them ourselves. Tobacco pays an exorbitant 
duty here, and shops for the sale of this luxury(?) 
are licensed by the king — quality always wretched. 

The romantic legend of the beauty of the Countess 
Gonzaga, causing the town to be sacked by Barba- 
rossa, in the sixteenth century, in an abortive attempt 
to get possession of her person, has not prevented 
Fondi from degenerating into one of the most 
wretched places in the kingdom ; and the sinister 



TERRACINA. 117 

looks of the men, and the depraved appearance of 
the women and children, as we passed through it, 
accorded with the reputation it has formerly borne, 
of being the greatest haunt of brigands and robbers 
in the kingdom. Baggage is here required to be ex- 
amined before entering the Roman States. We were 
duly counted three several times ; our passports ex- 
amined inside and outside — compared and decyhered 
with great labor, by the aid of our courier. The 
spread-eagle, however, (although very buzzard-like,) 
at the head of our passport, at last carried the day, 
and we were written down in the book, " buono." 
A scudi made the baggage all right, and we were 
allowed to proceed to Terracina, where the same 
forms were gone through, with a like result, viz : the 
rapid depletion of our purse. Here we spent the 
night ; first, however, climbing the mountain which 
overhangs the place, to see the ruins of the palace of 
Theodoric, the Gothic law-giver, and to look across 
the Pontine Marshes at the romantic promontory or 
island of Circe, immortalized by the pen of Virgil. 
As we descended, we stopped to see in the Cathedral 
the beautiful fluted marble columns, taken from the 
ancient temple of Jupiter Auxavus, which stood upon 
the spot. Terracina is a romantic little town, lying 



118 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

at the foot of a very rugged mountain, which here 
approaches the Mediterranean, leaving a narrow road 
between the cliffs and the sea. 

It is the southern key of the Papal States, and is 
strongly fortified. Far up the face of what seems to 
be an inaccessible cliff, we observed the mouth of a 
cave, which we learned was, in former years, the 
rendezvous of robbers, but now inhabited by an 
order of friars. On our way up the mountain, we 
saw the cave in which the notorious banditt, Gaspa- 
roni (now in prison) had his head quarters. He was 
a native of Terracina — a most cruel wretch,, who 
flourished about thirty years ago, and is said to have 
exacted from all applicants for the honor ! of his com- 
panionship, the exhibition of a pair of human ears, 
as the evidence that they had the courage to commit 
at least one murder. He thus gathered around him 
a band of a hundred picked men, who were the ter- 
ror of all this part of Italy. 

The next morning our way lay through the cele- 
brated Pontine Marshes — marshes now no more how- 
ever, as of late years the canal cut by Augustus, or 
rather completed by him in the days of Roman great- 
ness, to drain these plains, and which had become 
choked up and useless for many ages, has been again 



PONTINE MARSHES. 119 

opened by Pope Pius VI, at a cost of about a million 
and a half of dollars ; completely draining the rich 
alluvial bottom, which is now cultivated in many parts, 
and covered with immense herds of the long-horned 
Roman cattle, tame buffaloes, and horses. It 
now bids fair to become what it was in Pliny's time, 
when it contained twenty-three cities, the never 
failing resourse of the .Roman people for food 
in times of scarcity. We passed boats occasionally, 
upon the canal, laden with the surplus grain of the 
country, and were most agreeably surprised to find 
that our long drive of thirty-six miles through these 
marshes, which we had looked forward to with so much 
dread, was for a great part of the way, lined with tall 
poplars, and spreading elms, their long arms interlac- 
ing overhead and sheltering us from the hot noon-tide 
sun. For once in our lives we honestly and sincerely 
blessed the Pope, who caused them to be planted. 
" May his shadows never be less." The present road 
is for the most part built on the old Appian way, 
and skirts the canal for some distance. Circe was a 
conspicuous object, the whole day looming up to sea- 
ward over the plain, and recalling to our mind the 
early impressions formed of the fabled enchantress 
and her wonderful isle. 



120 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

About midway on the plain we passed the ancient 
Appii Forum, the Tres Tabernae, or " Three Tav- 
erns," where Horace embarked on the canal, on his 
memorable journey ; but intensely interesting to the 
Christian traveler also, as the spot where St. Paul 
first met his countrymen from Rome : " And from 
thence, when the brethren heard of us, they came to 
meet us as far as Appii Forum, and the Three Tav- 
erns ; whom, when Paul saw, he thanked God and 
took courage/ 7 We alighted and drank at the foun- 
tain which still flowed as of old, and felt that we 
were at last on sacred ground. 

We slept at Albano, in sight of St. Peters and 
Rome, and could have reached there before night-fall, 
but for the absurd law of the country, which permits 
only a certain distance to be traveled in a given 
time. The Albanese peasantry retain many of their 
original Greek peculiarities, and it being Sunday, 
the streets were filled with women wearing bright 
scarlet bodices laced in front, over a white under 
garment, with a sort of " tidy " neatly folded over 
the top of the head, and hanging down the back. On 
the better class, this head dress was frequedtly edged 
with lace, and curious looking golden bracelets adorned 
their arms. At a little distance this unique costume 



AQUEDUCT. 121 

had a very happy effect. The men wear their long 
black hair hanging down the back, and the conical 
hat — the regular stage dress of a brigand of the first 
water. 

This place is much resorted to by the Romans, for 
its fine scenery and hilly position ; and one of 
the finest modern bridges in Italy, built upon three 
tiers of noble stone arches, rising one upon the top 
of the other, carries the road over a deep gorge near 
the town, from whence a charming view of the sur- 
rounding country and adjacent valley is obtained. 

We reached Rome the next morning at an early 
hour; crossing the desolate Campagna, with the long 
lines of the Claudian, Tepulan, and Marcian aque- 
ducts, though broken down in many places, and in 
ruins, still visible in the distance, diverging like rays 
of light across the desert waste, from this, the once 
great sun of all the earth. What light it may shed 
upon our benighted vision, we shall reserve for 
another chapter. 
11 



CHAPTER XIII. 

Rome — The study of years — Forum — Triumphal arches — Baths 
of Caracalla — Palace of the Caesars — Pantheon — Tarpeian rock 
— Coliseum reflections — Fountain of Egeria — An echo — Ege- 
ria's hair. 

We leave for Florence to-morrow, having ex- 
hausted Rome, or rather Rome has exhausted us. 

"We have done Rome (as many other travelers do) 
in a week, and leave it with about as clear a conception 
of its greatness as one gets of the scenery along the 
English railroads, shut up in a coach and propelled 
at the rate of forty miles an hour. 

A friend of ours in New England, once, feeling 
desirous of seeing the Great West, went by the 
way of Buffalo and the Lakes to Chicago ; when, sup- 
posing the object of his journey accomplished, he 
returned home again by the same route. Being 
asked his opinion of the West, he replied that he 
thought it a very watery country. If asked our 
opinion of Rome, we should probably give about as 
intelligible an answer: as we have only a con- 

(122) 



THE STUDY OF YEARS. , 123 

fused recollection of having seen miles of statues, 
acres of pictures, and mountains of ruins. 

The fact is, Rome is the study of years, and no 
lover of the arts, no student or casual reader of his- 
tory, nor even the ordinary visitor, with the least 
spark of imagination, can fail to experience how 
utterly unsatisfactory a hurried visit is, to this, the 
most interesting city of the world. It seems a dese- 
cration to go galloping through her streets, merely 
sight-seeing, where every stone tells a classic story, 
and points a moral or adorns a tale. 

To be seen rationally, she should be studied step by 
step. Her noble statues, her fine paintings, and the 
grandeur of her architecture, should be seen and 
examined again and again, until our poor ideas have 
grown to their great excellence, and we become 
capable of realizing their exquisite beauty. 

To see Rome otherwise is as if one went to a 
concert with his ears stuffed. He sees the scrap- 
ing of catgut and the labor of the performers, 
but fails to catch the heavenly sounds evoked by 
their skill. Our first attention was of course given to 
the ruins. We wandered through the broken col- 
umns of the forum where 

u % * * «- Immortal accents glow 

And still the eloquent air breathes — burns with Cicero (" 



124 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

beneath the vaunting, triumphal arches, through 
■whose portals miserable captives had so often been 
painfully dragged to dishonor and death, as the 
splendid bas-reliefs with which they are adorned still 
too faithfully attest ; through the giant baths of Car- 
acalla, a mile in circuit, whose lofty arches and im- 
mense extent would seem to have fitted them for 
the gods themselves ; amongst the crumbling walls and 
overgrown courts of the palace of the Caesars, on the 
Palatine hill, once the great center of beauty, learn- 
ing and imperial power, but now thick with 
" Cypress and ivy, weed and wall flower grown," 

and preaching more powerfully than a thousand pul- 
pits, how 

" Vain are the plaisances on earth supplied, 
Swept into wrecks anon by Time's ungentle tide." 

Thence to the Pantheon, that best preserved and 
most sublime of all the ancient edifices ; beneath 
whose magnificent dome lies interred the dust of 
Raphael, an appropriate mausoleum for the clay of 
the greatest painter the world has ever produced. 
Thence to the Tarpeian rock, from whose bold height 
" The traitor's leap cured all ambition." 
As the shades of night began to gather we found 
ourselves sitting upon the broken seats of the Coli- 



COLISEUM REFLECTIONS. 125 

seum, arches on arches piled above and around us — 
fitting time to visit this great temple, which marks 
at once the greatness and the barbarity of ancient 
Rome. 

We here endeavor to recall in imagination some 
of the bloody scenes of which this has been the the- 
ater. The high-born and beautiful Roman dames 
again sit where we now sit, and with eyes flashing 
with excitement, and cheeks flushed, turn the thumb 
downward, giving the death signal for some poor 
gladiator who has been vanquished in the hand to 
hand combat, and with appealing eye awaits his 
doom. . . . Then the Christian martyrs rise up before 
us, who, when a better civilization began to dawn 
upon the world, watered the earth beneath with 
their blood, that we, their descendants, might com- 
prehend more clearly the glorious hope which ani- 
mated and sustained them in this their last sad 
extremity. 

Again, the thousands on thousands of brutal 
citizens fill this bloody temple. We see their eager, 
excited, and dark faces, crowding rank on rank as 
the marble seats rise up one above the other, in one 
great oval, high toward the o'erarching sky, which 
then looked down calm as to-night upon the horrid tra- 



126 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

gedy about to be enacted here. The music peals, 
the trumpets bray, and through the imperial arch- 
way, sacred to royalty alone, the Emperor comes to 
grace this imperial festival, surrounded by his pre- 
torian bands, with helmet and with spear. 

A door is opened and the savage beasts appear. 
Lions and tigers come leaping in with mane erect, 
lashing the ground and snuffing the scarcely dried 
blood of yesterday, or crouching beneath the shadows 
of the walls, prepare to spring and glut themselves 
in human gore. Another door is opened upon the 
area, beneath the seats, and a Christian martyr is 
thrust in. He advances camly, heroically, into full 
view in the arena, falls upon his knees, and with face 
and hands upturned to the clear and placid sky, and 
with the prayer, " Father, forgive them, they know 
not what they do," upon his lips, is torn to pieces 
by the enraged beasts. 

But as the imagination paints these scenes of the 
past upon the mind, the hooting of the night owl, 
and the dark shadows of the bats which are flitting 
around, recall us to the present, and we see again 
but a mass of time-worn ruins, the gigantic memento 
of a barbarous age. ***** Then to that still, 
sweet, quiet vale beyond the city's hum, we bent our 



FOUNTAIN OF EGERIA. .127 

way, where Numa, scorning all earthly love, with 
more than mortal passioo, was wont to repair to 
meet the lovely nymph, Egeria, the goddess of this 
" cave-guarded spring." The fountain still flows, 
the mosses, the ivy and the wild flowers still are 
sprinkled with its elysian water drops ; and it re- 
quired no great stretch of the imagination, in the 
dim twilight which prevailed, to clothe the broken 
and mutilated statue that recliningly guards the 
fountain, and from whose base the waters gush, with 
all the presumed attributes of the goddess, of which 
beauty was of course prominent. We all felt the 
inspiration of the hour and the place, and Harry, 
quite overcome, was about to entertain us with a 
quotation of Byron's beautiful lines : 

" Egeria! sweet creation of some heart, 
Which found no mortal resting place so fair 
As thine ideal breast." 

When suddenly, " Gammon" echoing through the 
gloomy depths of the cave beyond, put an end to the 
highly romantic mood into which we were falling, and 
threw us all into a fit of laughter. We shrewdly sus- 
pected Mentor of being the echo, who contrary to the 
commands of Jupiter, thus answered without first 
being spoken to — as he stood concealed by a project- 



128 NOTES DKAWN AT SIGHT. 

ing bush. After gathering some of the delicate and 
beautiful mosses, called Egeria's hair, which hang 
around the entrance to this romantic spot, almost 
concealing it from view, and drinking of its fabled 
waters we drove back to our lodgings at the Hotel 
d'Allemagne, in the Via Condotti. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

The Vatican — Staircase of Bernini — Galleria Lapidaria — Museo 
Chiaramonte — Cupid of Praxiteles — Niobe — Hercules — De- 
mosthenes — Laocoon — Apollo Belvidere — Hall of the Muses — 
Etruscan vases — The frescoes of M. Angelo — Last Judgement 
— An anecdote — The Stauze of Raphael — The Loggie of Ra- 
phael — Guido's Madonna — Raphael's Transfiguration — Statue 
of Aurelius — Venus of the Capitol — Pictures of the Capitol — 
Doves of Pliny — Rome the mother of Art — St. Peter's — St. John 
Lateran — Scala Santa— Blood of Christ — Pilgrims ascending on 
their knees — Catholic superstition — A procession — The Pope — 
Christianity of the bayonet — Harriet Hosmer — Whitridge — 
Tivoli — Hadrian's villa — Newly discovered tombs — Keats 
and Shelley — "Writ in water." 

How can I express the pleasure we enjoyed during 

the two days devoted to the " Vatican." It is 

enough to say that we have beheld this, the most 

glorious mine of art-wealth ever collected together. 

It is not one, but a collection of palaces, built by 

successive pontiffs since 1877 ; it is said to possess 

four thousand rooms, and with its immense galleries, 

courts, halls and gardens, it covers a vast area of 

ground. 

12 ( 129 ) 



130 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

Entering by the grand stairway of Bernini, said 
to surpass in grandeur any other in the world, and 
passing through its graceful Ionic columns we found 
ourselves in a long gallery, amongst the tombs and 
inscriptions taken from the Catacombs. Passing 
through this, we entered the " Museo Cliiaramonte" 
arranged by Canova. 

Here was a multitude of rare works of art, com- 
prising seven hundred specimens, and divided into 
thirty compartments. We saw the Cupid of Prax- 
iteles — Niobe and her Children — Sleeping Fisher Boy 
— a noble Hercules, which Michael Angelo declared to 
be faultless — a full length statue of Demosthenes — 
the busts of Cicero, Mark Anthony, Augustus — the 
allegorical figure of the Nile, looking like old 
Neptune, reclining for an afternoon nap — the reclin- 
ing Ariadne — Minerva Medica, one of the finest 
draped statues in the world — the Faun of Praxiteles — 
Mercury — an Athlete or wrestler, cleaning his arm 
with a " striyil" and a host of other fine statues, 
any one of which would give a high character to any 
exhibition of works of art in America. But if we 
were charmed with turning the first page of this 
book of beauty, what was our rapture on progressing 
further, and entering the " Museo Pio Clementino" 



AFOLLO BELVIDERE. 131 

founded by Clement XIY and Pius VI. This con- 
tains, without exception, the most magnificent col- 
lection of antique sculpture in the world. 

Here is the Torso Belviclere, found in the baths of 
Caracalla, supposed to represent Hercules in repose 
— the sarcophagus of Scipio, in which his skeleton 
was found entire, with a ring on his finger, (which is 
still in possession of an English nobleman) — the Bel- 
videre Antinous — the famous Laocoon, without doubt 
the finest group ever executed. 

& * * u Turning to the Vatican go see 
Laocoon's torture, dignifying pain — ■ 
A father's love and mortal's agony, 
"With an immortal's patience blending ; vain 
The struggle; vain against the coiling strain, 
And gripe and deepening of the dragon's grasp, 
The old man's clench ; the long envenomed chain, 
Rivets the living links — the enormous asp, 
Enforces pang on pang, and stifles gasp on gasp." 

The Apollo Belvidere, the " lord of the unerring 
bow," so beautiful in form and feature as to have 
captivated a hapless maiden, 

"Who longed for a deathless lover from above, 
And maddened in that vision — " 

— a most captivating Yenus stepping from the bath — 



132 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

the beautiful and graceful group of the Boxers, by 
Canova — a Perseus, &c. Passing many beautiful works 
which we wished much to study more minutely, we 
entered the "Hall of the Muses," where we saw sixteen 
splendid Corinthian columns, found at Hadrian's villa, 
near Tivoli, Its floors are beautifully ornamented 
with mosaics, carefully placed as they were found. 
The Muses are fine characteristic figures, and oc- 
cupy with Apollo, the center of the room, while 
ranged around, are Euripides, Pericles, Aspasia, 
(with her name upon the statue,) Euterpe, &c. We 
passed through a labyrinth of halls and galleries, 
seeing some very interesting specimens of animals, 
and a porphyry vase, more than forty feet in diame- 
ter, found in the baths of Titus ; thence to the collec- 
tion of Etruscan vases and urns, the oldest relics of 
civilization known to the country. Having no time for 
mummies, we passed the Egyptian museum, and 
visited the Sixtine chapel, where is seen the celebrated 
fresco of Michael Angelo, " the Last Judgement." 
This is a picture of wonderful power, sixty feet by 
thirty, and which required eight years labor to com- 
plete it. St. Peter is seen with the keys, restoring them 
to our Saviour, who, with a group of saints, occupies the 
foreground. Below are demons in hell, with Charon 



AN ANECDOTE. 133 

ferrying over the Styx, who is in the act of knocking 
over with his oar, some of the sinners. While en- 
gaged on this picture, the Pope, Paul IV, took offence 
at the nudity of the figures, and requested M. Ahgelo 
to reform it — " Tell the Pope to reform the world, 
and the picture will reform itself," was the tart reply 
of the artist. 

The Pope, however, employed another artist to 
drape the loins of the figures during the absence of 
M. Angelo, who, on his return, gave the nickname 
of "breeches-maker " to his meddlesome comrade, 
which he carried to his death. The drapery, still 
remains a distinguishing blemish on the picture, but 
M. Angelo seized the earliest opportunity to reveng'e 
himself on the Master of Ceremonies of the Pope, 
who had first suggested the indelicacy of the figures, 
by painting an accurate likeness of him, standing in 
hell as Midas, with ass's ears, and having a serpent 
coiled around his body. Complaint was again made 
to the Pope, who requested it to be altered, but M. 
Angelo declared the Pope had power over purgatory 
only, none over hell, and the fastidious Prime Minis- 
ter, Biagio, remains immortalized as an ass to this day. 

The stanze (or chambers) painted in fresco, by 
Raphael, four in number, are exquisite productions. 



134 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. ' 

They are painted with great labor, the colors being 
laid in with the wet mortar in plastering. 

The School of Athens is one of the most cele- 
brated of these remarkable works. Among the 
various figures which comprise the group, Apollo is 
seen playing on the violin. In other stanze are 
the Miracle of Bolsona, Attila with his Huns, 
the deliverance of St. Peter from prison, &c. 
The loggie of Raphael, are arcades around the courts, 
which contain some fine frescoes of scenes from the 
Bible, beginning at the creation. The collection of 
oil paintings of the Vatican, is not large, being less 
than fifty ; nevertheless, it has more real treasures 
of art, than any other, it is said, in the world. 
Guido's Madonna and Child, and his Crucifixion 
of St. Peter — the martyrdom of St. Erasmus, 
by Poussin — the Madonna and Child, and St. Sebas- 
tian pierced with arrows, by Titian — the Magdalen, 
by Guercino — Christ sitting on a rainbow, by Cor- 
reggio — the Resurrection by Perugino, the Annuncia- 
tion and the Transfiguration, by Raphael, the last and 
greatest of all his works — the Communion of St. 
Jerome, by Domenichino, and a fine cattle piece, by 
Paul Potter, are some of the most renowned. 

The next morning we went to the Capitol, upon 



PICTURES OF THE CAPITOL. 135 

the old Capitoline hill, where we saw in the square 
in front, the celebrated equestrian statue of Marcus 
Aurelius, in bronze, which is said to be the finest work 
of the kind in existence, but which we think decid- 
edly inferior to the statue of Jackson, in America, by 
Crawford. We saw the renowned Dying Gladiator, 
which alone is worth a trip to Europe to behold — 
The Amazon,— the Bronze Wolf, the " thunder 
stricken nurse of Rome," — Antinous, — pronounced 
by anatomists to be faultless, — the Venus of the 
Capitol, and other fine statues I cannot now recollect. 
The celebrated and exquisite " Doves of Pliny," in 
mosaic, found at Hadrian's villa; some fine pictures by 
Guido, Tintoretto, Domenichino, Vandyke, Guercino, 
Titian, Carlo Dolce, Claude Lorraine, Paul Vero- 
nese, and other great names, constitute the attrac- 
tions of the Capitol. Of course we saw some daubs 
aspiring to this "goodlie companie," which the "smoke 
houses" of Italy now turn out as, old pictures, to 
order, much as we turn out hams, and as far as I 
have learned, at just about the same cost ; but they 
only serve for the dead coloring, the back ground in 
collections like these, and add to the effect, as gems 
are not set in gems, but in a baser medium. Then 
there are the Barberina, the Borghese, the Fame- 



136 NOTES DKAWN AT SIGHT. 

sina, the Colonna. and many other private collections 
of great merit, both of pictures and statuary. Time 
may, therefore, be indefinitely employed here, ac- 
cording to one's taste and capacity for enjoyment. 

Rome is, and must continue to be, the mother of 
art. Here are collected some of the finest specimens 
the world has ever seen, or can see. They are not 
only true to nature, but at the same time, the highest 
conceptions of nature. 

Of the three hundred or more churches in Rome, of 
course St. Peters stands at the head, as well as at the 
head of all in the world. It is difficult for the mind to 
grasp the whole of its vast interior at once. It is only by 
looking at each of its transepts separately, and com- 
paring each with some other entire church, that one 
can realize the magnitude of the great whole, its 
proportions are so well maintained. Its splendid 
dome o'erarching it like the heavens, stands a 
noble monument of the genius of its architect, 
Michael Angelo, out of whose brain it sprang, like 
Pallas from the head of Jove, fully armed. St. Peters 
contains many fine statues, mosaics, frescoes, &c, 
which need not to be enumerated, but which are ad- 
mired by all who visit Rome. 

We spent a few hours in examining the rare 



CATHOLIC SUPERSTITION. .137 

marbles and fine columns of St. John Lateran. This 
Basilica is said to be the oldest christian temple in 
the world, its foundations were laid bj Constantine, 
the first Christian Emperor. 

Here are seen also the colossal statues of the 
Apostles, and near by the " Scala Santa," where the 
throng of pilgrims ascending the holy staircase on 
their knees, never ceases. We were obligingly 
shown, by the sacristan, a spot upon the marble, 
covered by glass, said to be the blood of Christ ; 
though it is only claimed that these are the stairs by 
which he descended to his execution from the judg- 
ment hall of Pilate. The stairs are covered with 
plank much worn, and every ascending pilgrim de- 
voutly kisses this spot, and some each step, as they 
painfully drag themselves up. 

We can forgive the superstitious reverence with 
which devout Catholics regard these stairs, in view 
of their implicit faith in the tradition ; but we confess, 
to us, the marble where it could be seen through the 
covering, though worn, looked white and compara- 
tively modern. There are always relics in the 
churches of Italy. In one we were shown the 
print of Christ's feet in a block of white marble, 
said to have been impressed after his resurrection — 



138 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

they were well carved. In another, the well-curb of 
marble, much worn by the rope, at which the woman 
of Samaria was drawing water when addressed by 
Christ ; at another, the marble face was shown us, in 
bas relief, through the mouth of which the pagan 
oracles were delivered. Some have a piece of the true 
cross ; others a marvelous wooden Christ, which heals 
at the touch, and the bones of the Apostles and 
martyrs are everywhere. Indeed, it seems essential 
to the influence of the catholic church, in a certain 
stage of civilization, that this love of the marvelous, 
which exists in the constitution of the human 
mind, should be strongly appealed to. Hence 
these sacred relics seem to constitute a part of 
the system under which the church is managed. 

Observing crowds pressing toward St. Peter's we 
learned that the Pope was to celebrate mass that 
afternoon, and would pass from the Vatican in 
procession with the Cardinals, &c, in view of 
the people. We rented chairs which were pre- 
pared for the occasion, and witnessed the ceremony. 
The whole route was lined each side with soldiers. 
The Cardinals, in splendid carriages, with liveried 
servants and outriders, rolled up to the church to 
join the procession on foot. Men were seen bearing 



HARRIET HOSMER. 139 

crosses of enormous size, which they balanced in the 
air with great effort and adroitness, having evidently 
practiced the feat before. Nuns dressed both in black 
and white, were chanting. Cardinals in their robes, 
and the Pope in his pontifical dress, with thousands of 
others of lesser note, bearing lighted candles, crosses, 
images of Christ, the Virgin Mary, &c, &c, com- 
posed the procession led, however, and closed by 
troops. 

Our thoughts naturally recurred to the early days 
of the Christian faith, and we pictured to ourselves 
" the Christ," or the apostle Paul, or their claimed 
head, Peter, leading a procession such as this, with 
thousands of bayonets to protect them from the souls 
they came to save. Christianity upheld by bayonets 
belongs not to the meek and lowly Jesus. 

"We found but little time in our hurried visit to Rome, 
to look into the studios of the artists, but we saw some 
of the beautiful creations of Harriet Hosmer, our al- 
ready distinguished country-woman. Her "Puck," 
and a sleeping female figure, are exquisitely beautiful 
and faultless. We also saw some of Gibson's works. 
He stands at the head of the profession here. * * * 
Whitridge, the Cincinnati artist, had a few fine land- 
scapes under way, but nothing completed, having 



140 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

sent away all his finished work. His style is greatly 
improved in softness and clearness, and he bids fair 
to become (if not already) the finest landscape 
painter of the age. He will return to the United 
States next year. 

We rode out to Tivoli to see the celebrated falls, 
but were disappointed. They are romantic, but the 
stream is simply an artificial canal. The ruins of 
Hadrian's villa, which we visited, interested us more, 
as also some new excavations which were making in 
the Campagna, near the Appian way, outside of the 
city. We went down into newly discovered tombs, 
where lay the unopened sarcophagi of some of 
the great of ancient Rome. These tombs are 
highly ornamented with carvings, bas reliefs, &c, and 
the vaulted ceilings are beautifully frescoed. They 
are interesting, as showing the actual condition in 
which they were left by that ancient people ; they, in 
common with all the relics, statues, &c, which have 
been found in modern times, having been concealed 
and preserved by the accumulated rubbish of ages. 
This excavation was undertaken on private account, 
by an Englishman or an American, whose success in 
finding marble columns, beautiful statues, and rare 
tombs, aroused the jealousy of the Pope, and he has 



WRIT IN WATER. 141 

taken possession of their discoveries and placed sol- 
diers in charge of the spot. By a present law of the 
country, no ancient work of art can be removed 
without the direct authority of the Government. 

The great depth at which the ruins of Rome are 
found below the present level of the city, astonishes 
most strangers ; in many places, as at the Forum, 
Coliseum, &c, the earth had accumulated twenty feet 
or more above them, all of which had to be removed. 

We could not leave without seeing the graves of 
Keats and Shelley. They rest in the Protestant 
ground. Though the epitaph, " writ in water " has 
been placed on poor Keats' tombstone, at his dying 
request, he is not forgotten, as the fresh garlands 
which strewed bis humble grave showed; and we think 
but few English or Americans ever visit Rome, with- 
out dropping a tear on the last quiet resting place of 
John Keats and Percy Bysshe Shelley. 



CHAPTER XV. 

Flaminian Way— Etruscan towns— CastelTbano — Gasperoni the 
bandit — His prison — Terni — Falls of Velino— Clitumnus — 
Temple of Diana — The fabled water — Milk white steers — 
Etruria — Olive plantations — Assises — Miraculous roses — 
Church of St. Mary of the angels — Perugia — Etruscan gate- 
way — Lake Thrasyniene — Battle between Hannibal and the 
Romans — Little inconveniences — Post books— The Sangui- 
netto — Tuscany — Arezzo — Petrarch — Florence. 

We left Rome by the Perugia road, the most in- 
teresting through Central Italy. For a day or two 
we journeyed upon and near the old Flaminian Way, 
which is still in good preservation, though built 
2,000 years or more ago. These old Roman roads 
are a great curiosity. Of easy grade, they are 
paved roughly, with large irregular blocks of stone 
laid flatwise, frequently having a curb, and with the 
Roman chariot, innocent of springs, they must have 
proved an effectual preventive of dyspepsia. Most 
of the towns along the way are of old Etruscan 
origin, built upon the hills, for easier defense against 
an enemy and are walled. The houses in this part 

(142) 



CASTELBANO. 143 

of Italy are built very strong, having iron-grated 
windows, and one substantial door or "porte cochere," 
the only entrance. Once closed for the night they 
become castles, and could be effectually guarded 
against the banditti which infested this country during 
the middle ages. The ceilings are arched, the floors 
of brick, the roofs of tile — so they cannot burn. The 
upper rooms only are occupied for domestic use, the 
ground floors being usually the stables in the country, 
and in the town, shops, &c. 

We rested the first night at Castelbano, where we 
saw the notorious brigand chief, Gasperoni, and 
those of his band who have not died in prison. They 
have been confined over 30 years, here and at Civita 
Vecchia. This robber was the Fra Diavolo of his 
time, and proves a good card for the cicerones and 
soldiers of the otherwise obscure town, as few tra- 
velers pass without paying the distinguished cut- 
throat a visit : and as in Italy their sole revenue is 
derived from their " monuments," their u sights " 
to see, involves to pay. We found the robbers 
confined in a strong military fortress, surrounded 
by a moat with drawbridge, port-cullis> &c, and 
guarded by troops, and were ushered at once, with- 
out announcement or ceremony, into a large room 



144 , NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

containing the chief with ten or twelve of his band. 
My companions as well as myself, felt at first rather 
alarmed at our novel situation — in a room with a 
dozen such notorious scoundrels, — but seeing the Ro- 
man soldiers guarding the threshold we felt safe. 
The band were engaged in the useful occupation of 
knitting caps, &c, for sale to the visitors, who call 
upon them ; and we were informed that the revenue 
all passed through the hands of Grasperoni, who is 
still looked up to as their leader. He is a tall, dark, 
stern looking old man, with hair blanched more 
with confinement than age, to the whiteness of snow; 
but his black, piercing, restless eye, and the lines of 
his face show that restraint has not subdued the 
pent up Vesuvius within. 

At Terni, a very romantic place amongst the 
mountains, we visited the falls of Yelino, admitted by 
all travelers to be the finest cataract in Europe. 
The water falls about three hundred feet; but the 
volume seems to an American, accustomed to Nia- 
gara, to be a mere mill race. Both this and Tivoli, 
near Rome, which we also visited, are artificial, their 
channels having been changed to secure the lands 
lying above them. 



FALLS OF VELINO. 145 

" The roar of waters ! from the headlong height 
' Velino,' cleaves the wave-worn precipice. 
The fall of waters ! rapid as the light, 
The flashing mass foams, shaking the abyss, 
The hell of waters ! where they howl and hiss, 
And boil in endless torture; while the sweat 
Of their great agony, wrung oat from this, 
Their Phlgethon, curls round the rocks of jet 
That gird the gulf around in pitiless horror set." 

We could not see all that — though we took the 
longest-eared, surest- footed, and littlest donkey we 
have seen in Italy, and rode all round, above and 
beneath them, and we could not help thinking that 
it was a pity Byron had not seen Niagara before 
writing Childe Harold. The scenery, however, 
around Yelino is grand, magnificent, in that re- 
spect, far exceeding Niagara, and we were highly 
gratified with our visit. 

Between Foligno and Speletto, we passed the 
beautiful and limpid stream, Clitumnus, sacred to 
Diana and her nymphs, and in whose crystal waves, 
beneath the o'erarching trees which line its grassy 
banks, they were wont to lave their virgin limbs 
when the pleasures of the chase were o'er. 

A beautiful little temple with Grecian portico 

and marble columns with carved Corinthian capitals, 
13 



146 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

still marks the spot where the sacrifices were made 
to the goddess of chastity and the chase. It is evi- 
dently very ancient, and is in fine preservation. 
Here the milk white steers are seen, with their ga- 
zelle eyes, and glossy skin, dotting the green plain 
— white, because all that drink of this charmed wa- 
ter assume at once the chaste characteristics of 
Diana's votaries. They are very beautiful animals, 
and if ever Jove put on their livery, as is alleged in 
classic fable, in his pursuit of Europa, they are with- 
out question the direct descendants of the tribe thus 
honored by the amorous god : 

" But thou Clitumnus ! in thy sweetest wave 
Of the most living crystal that was e'er 
The haunt of river nymph, to gaze and lave 
Her limbs where nothing hid them, thou dost rear 
Thy grassy banks whereon the milk white steer 
Grazes; the purest god of gentle waters! 
And most serene of aspect, and most clear; 
Surely that stream was unprofaned by slaughters, 
A mirror and a bath for Beauty's youngest daughters! 

"And on thy happy shore a temple still, 
Of small and delicate proportion keeps, 
Upon a mild declivity of hill, 
Its memory of thee ; beneath it sweeps 
Thy current's calmness: oft from out it leaps 



THE FABLED WATER, 147 

The finny darter with the glittering scales, 

Who dwells and revels in thy glassy deeps : 

While chance, some scattered water-lilly sails 

Down where the shallower wave still tells its bubbling tales. 

Pass not unblest the genius of the place ! 

If through the air a zephyr more serene 

Win to the brow, 'tis his; and if ye trace 

Along his margin a more eloquent green, 

If on the heart the freshness of the scene 

Sprinkle its coolness, and from the dry dust 

Of weary life a moment lave it clean, 

With nature's baptism, — 'tis to him ye must 

Pay orisons for this suspension of disgust." 

After strengthening our virtue by a hearty drink 
of these fabled waters we resumed our journey, pass- 
ing into the heart of the old Etruscan country, the 
most interesting in Europe. The vales are very ex- 
tensive, the slopes of the hills easy, and all covered 
with olive orchards, their pale tinge of blue con- 
trasting charmingly with the bright green of the fig, 
the mulberry and the vine. The olive grows with a 
very scragged and deformed stem, owing to the 
yearly cutting which it suffers, to rid it of the worms 
which prey upon its trunk. It struggles on, how- 
ever, amidst its scars, and lives to a great age, and 
is a source of profit to the farmers, each tree yield- 
ing about five dollars worth of fruit yearly. 



148 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

The hills and mountains were dotted all day with 
ruined castles and walled towns, and at a pretty town, 
Assises, situated upon the river La Bastia, we stop- 
ped a few minutes to examine the miraculous (?) roses 
growing in the church yard there — the Cathedral of 
St. Maria Delia Angelo. A priest in charge related 
the miracle as follows : St. Francis here had his cell, 
and received daily visitations of angels. Upon one 
occasion, exhausted with prayer, he came out of his 
cell and fell upon a bed of thorns, which lacerated his 
hands until they bled, since which, roses without thorns, 
and with the blood spots upon their leaves, grow upon 
the place. It is now enclosed by a wall, and this 
cathedral has been built near the spot. This story is 
devoutly believed by all the inhabitants round about, 
and miraculous virtue is attributed to these roses. 

We plucked some of the spotted leaves as a curi- 
osity, and turned away, wondering at the love of the 
marvelous in these people, and the credulity of hu- 
man nature. 

An extra pair of milk white steers was attached 
to our carriage (what a desecration !) to drag us up 
a steep mountain to Perugia, which lies at the top 
overlooking the lovely valley through which we had 
passed. We entered through the old Etruscan gate- 



LAKE THRASYMENE. 149 

way, still in good preservation. This place was 
distinguished as an important Etruscan town before 
the Roman conquest, and a stubborn enemy of 
its encroachment upon their territory. Many a 
hard fought battle took place before their strong 
walls yielded, and some of the finest ante-Roman 
ruins, in Italy are still to be seen here. "We slept at a 
little "Albergo" overlooking the classic Thrasymene. 
It was upon the shores of this lake that the Carthage- 
nian general, Hannibal, so completely surprised and 
routed the Roman army under consul Flaminius, and 
where the latter, with fifteen thousand of his followers, 
was killed. Had this victory been followed up 
with the energy usually displayed by Hannibal, the 
fate of the world might have been changed. 

Thrasymene is a pretty little lake about ten miles 
long by eight wide, surrounded by mountains, and 
its shores lined with green. It has several pretty 
islands, but not a good boat upon it. We obtained 
the best scow to be had, and were paddled about 
upon its glassy surface, in order to see its beautiful 
scenery and take some fish. 

Finding, however, our leaky ship about to sink, 
we with signs and bad Italian induced our charon 
to land us satisfied that a beautiful landscape 



150 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

looked better from solid ground than from a leaky- 
boat, under constant fear of being drowned. 

We were quite astonished to find shrimp similar to 
those of New Orleans and the Mexican Gulf abundant 
in this lake. We secured some fish for our supper, as 
the fare along this route is not of the best. There 
are some other little inconveniences which one is 
liable to encounter as well as bad fare, as the follow- 
ing from the Travelers' record indicates : 

Oh, Italy, Italia! one who feels 
He's colonized from head to heels, 
Doth nightly, daily, hourly pray 
St. Peter drive these fleas away. 

These post books or records at all the albergoes, 
are an institution of the government, to which be- 
longs all the post carriages ; at least they control 
them. Any complaints are requested to be written 
down against landlords or post boys, and some, there- 
fore, are very amusing. 

Shortly after leaving the lake we crossed the 
Sanguinetto, (stream of blood) so called, it is said, 
since the memorable battle fought upon its banks, 
when it ran all day red with Roman blood. It forms 
the boundary between Tuscany and the Roman States, 
and the observing traveler cannot fail to see a marked 



AREZZO. 151 

difference between the people, the farms, the houses, 
and the comforts, upon either side of this little brook. 
In Tuscany they build "with taste, with projecting 
eaves, windows often latticed, and houses painted 
with fancy colors, which contrasts strongly with 
the dingy, time-worn ruins one sees coming from 
Rome hither. 

The men are better clad, and seem industrious 
and happy ; the women are observed with the wide 
Tuscan straw bonnet, and fewer of them in the fields. 
Ornamental shrubbery adorns the country cottages, 
and taste and freshness are seen in the towns. The 
roads are as smooth as our best graveled turnpikes 
after a shower ; hedges of roses and other wild 
flowers line the way, and in the early morn fill the 
air with sweetness. 

We halted a moment at Arezzo, which claims the 
honor of being the birth place of Petrarch ; and upon 
the house in which he is said to have been born, a 
a marble slab has been placed by the civil authori- 
ties, duly commemorating or authenticating the 
event, and settling the question to their entire satis- 
faction, we suppose, as against all other competi- 
tors, and particularly Ancisa, a neighboring town. 
It is very certain, however, that his poetic fire was 



152 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

not drawn from Arezzo, at least, as lie shook her 
dust from his feet, at a very early age, and went to 
Ancisa. His body remains at Arqua, where he died; 
while Laura lies at Avignon, in the south of France. 
Florence ! beautiful Florence ! surrounded with 
green hills, and separated in two parts by the Arno, 
she looks from the adjacent hights like a gem set 
round with emeralds. The dome and campanille 
of the Cathedral or Duomo, are conspicuous objects 
in the distance, and mark one of the most interest- 
ing churches in Italy, and almost equal in extent 
and magnificence to any in the world. The weather 
is hot, and we are about the last travelers who are 
migrating north. So we have our choice of rooms at 
the Grand Bretagne, overlooking the Arno, with its 
numerous bridges, and are pleasantly situated. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

Beautiful Florence — The Arno— Drive on the Cascine — Heart 
Exchange — Floras — Carriages searched — Hiram Powers — 
Statue of America — Apathy of Republics — Capitol of Ohio — 
Uffixi gallery — Venus de Medici — Wrestlers — L' Arrotino — 
Niobe and her children — Raphael's Fornarina — Titian's Venus 
— Master pieces — Bronzes — Pitti palace — Wax models — Duo- 
mo — Campanille — Gates of Paradise — Santa Croce. 

Florence is truly a beautiful city. As we ap- 
proach from the southward we see her lying in a 
sweet, green valley, girt in by considerable hills, 
some of which rise to the dignity of mountains, and 
all sloping softly to the plain through which the 
quiet Arno glides like a thread of silver woven 
through the figures of a gay carpet, dividing the city 
in twain, and sparkling between the green fields of 
the Val d'Arno until lost in the blue haze of the 
west toward the distant Mediterranean. The white 
walls which protect the shores, and the stone-arched 
bridges which span the stream mark its course 
through the city, and give a beautiful variety to the 
picture. Florence differs materially from any other 

14 (153) 



154 'notes drawn at sight. 

city we have yet seen in Italy. Her architecture is 
more tasty and elaborate. The roofs project after 
the Tuscan style, and the cornices are often elegant 
and massive, while the buildings are usually painted 
of a cheerful color. Her streets are few of them 
wide, but paved with large flat blocks, smooth as a 
floor, and most scrupulously clean. One soon be- 
comes accustomed to do without sidewalks, and feels 
quite content with the grateful shade so necessary 
in these warm latitudes, which the crooked and nar- 
row ways afford. 

The drives about Florence are very fine. Every 
evening as the sun declines, the Signoras and Sig- 
norinas, having finished their "siestas/' are seen in 
open carriages crowding toward the Cascine, an 
elegant park, extending about three miles along the 
bank of the Arno, filled with forest trees and thick 
shrubbery, forming an impervious shade. Separate 
roads are provided for equestrians, pedestrians and 
carriages, upon which neither class intrudes upon 
the other. About half the length of this drive there 
is an open area and promenade, where a band some- 
times entertains the beau monde. Here the carriages 
draw up to rest, and by common consent, it has be- 
come a kind of Bourse, or " Heart Exchange " — 



CUPID'S EXCHANGE. 155 

where the buying and selling go on at a fixed hour, 
and under established rules. Order is heaven's first 
law, in love as in commerce. 

The gallants pass around to the fair inmates 
of the carriages, who are in full dress for the occa- 
sion, paying compliments and saying many soft and 
tender things, which we almost fancied we compre- 
hended although ignorant of Italian, as the mantling 
blushes were seen, and mamma's head was so con- 
veniently turned the other way. But what bids 
were accepted — what rejected — what fortunes made 
in fancy stock, or what poor novice was "taken in" 
and " done " by the bulls or the bears," on this Cu- 
pids' exchange, we had no means of ascertaining — 
the priest being the only confidant. It is a very 
pleasant custom, however, and the gay and happy 
Florentines enjoy it ; and even Mentor and Harry 
seem as desirous to go on change now when the 
evening shades begin to fall, as the merchants of the 
Queen City, when one o'clock arrives. The Floras 
or flower girls are also a feature of the Cascine. They 
dress neatly with wide brimmed straw hats, tastily 
trimmed, and press their flowers upon the stranger 
gratis, daily, during his stay but on his departure he 
is expected to contribute something. On return- 



156 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

ing through the barriere gates where the octroi or 
city duties are collected — every plebeian carriage is 
obliged to submit to a careful search, in order that 
the voluminous crinoline may not conceal and smug- 
gle in a stray bottle of wine or other contraband 
article. This custom prevails throughout Italy — 
and also at Paris, and for aught we know, in other 
European cities, but to those accustomed to the 
largest liberty, it is rather annoying. 

We have just returned from a visit to the studio 
of Hiram Powers, and have seen the model of his 
noble statue, "The Genius of America." It is a 
beautiful conception, spirited in mien and attitude — 
and no one but an American, burning with love for his 
native land, and his heart full of the knowledge of 
her rising glory, ever could have conceived or exe- 
cuted such a work. The uplifted finger of the statue 
not only indicates the onward progress of the nation, 
but points to that great source from whence all true 
progress springs. The eager and speaking eye ex- 
emplifies the restless activity and energy of the 
American people — while the candid, though firm 
mouth, and fair open brow, show her perfect trust in 
the triumph of the truth, and her determination, at 
the same time, to maintain it at all hazards. Her 



HIRAM POWERS. 157 

foot upon the broken chain, tells of freedom from 
the despotisms of the old world, &c. In fact, the 
whole is a study which would require time properly 
to analyze and comprehend, and should be seen by 
every American youth to inspire him with a love 
of his country and to incite him to noble deeds. The 
statue has been packed for shipping, under the ex- 
pectation that the act passed a year or two ago, 
would enable the government to order it, but by 
some mismanagement or management, it has been 
neglected, and it now encumbers the atelier of Mr. 
Powers with its huge enveloping, where it remains as 
a perpetual monument of the tardiness of a Republi- 
can government to recognise and reward in a 
fitting manner the world- acknowledged genius of the 
greatest of her artist sons. What an appropriate 
movement it would be for Ohio, his native State, 
now that she has commenced adorning her noble 
capitol with works of art, to take advantage of the 
neglect or apathy of the General Government, and 
secure this, the greatest work of the first living sculp- 
tor, and thus show to the Union and the world that 
she, at least, appreciates the talent of her children ! 
The work is as appropriate for the capitol of Ohio as 
for Washington, and we sincerely hope that another 



158 NOTES DKAWN AT SIGHT. 

session of her legislature will not close without an ap- 
propriation to this end. 

In a few more years Powers will have passed from 
his labors on earth, and the State that he now honors 
by his name, and in which his early geaius was de- 
veloped, will possess not a single trophy of his 
noble art, to show to succeeding generations. 

Florence possesses two of the finest galleries in 
the world — the Uffixi and the Pitti. In statuary, 
they are excelled by the Vatican, at Rome, though 
each has its peculiar merit, and each possesses mas- 
ter-pieces which the other has not ; but in paintings, 
the collections of Florence surpass all others, both 
in number and value. They are well arranged in 
schools, the French, the Dutch and Flemish, the 
Tuscan, &c, making it very convenient for the artist 
or the amateur to study the different styles of art. 
At the Uffixi in the Tribune, a beautful circular hall 
with Mosaic floor and frescoed dome, are seen the great 
originals of world-wide celebrity, copies of which 
have made them familiar to all. Here is the Venus 
de Medici, the great ideal standard of female beauty, 
"which loves in stone," supposed to be three thou- 
sand years old, and sculptured by Phidias. The 
Appollino is another beautiful figure, combining the 



NIOBE AND HER CHILDREN. 159 

elasticity of the youthful male with the delicacy of 
the female figure — the Dancing Faun, and the Lot- 
tatori or group of wrestlers. This latter is a won- 
derful work, exhibiting the rigidity of limb and ten- 
sion of muscle to such a degree that one can hardly 
convince himself that the figures are artificial. The 
L'Arrotino — a slave whetting his knife with his at- 
tention suddenly arrested, is a vivid production. 
In another room are seen Niobe and her children ar- 
ranged in striking groups. She had the evil for- 
tune to offend the gods through the love she bore 
her offspring, when as a punishment, her seven sons 
are stricken by the darts of Apollo, and six of her 
daughters destroyed by Diana. The mother over- 
come with grief is turned into stone. Thus runs the 
classic fable, and the artist has faithfully represented 
it in marble. They are beyond question the most 
affecting groups ever exhibited, — appealing more 
strongly to the feelings even than the Laocoon. 
The dying features of the noble children transfixed 
by the darts of Apollo and with upturned faces ap- 
pealing to the mother for aid where they had never 
before appealed in vain, and the horror stricken, and 
agonized look of Niobe herself so different from the 
look of bodily suffering, dwelt on my mind for weeks. 



160 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

We were much delighted with the Bacchus and 
Faun, of Michael Angelo, and a beautful Cupid and 
Psyche, also by him. We spent many hours in looking 
at the wonderful collection of paintings in these gal- 
leries. Raphael's Fornarina, Titian's Venus, Bella 
Donna and Flora; the Sybil by Guercino — the Ma- 
donna of Corregio, and the fearful Medusa's Head, of 
Leonardo da Vinci, of which we had so often heard 
and read, particularly interested us. Both these gal- 
leries are filled with the best productions of the 
great masters. Besides those enumerated there are 
many splendid works by Paul Veronese, Annibal Car- 
raci, Ribera, Bartolomeo, Andrea del Sarto, Albert 
Durer, Guido, Domenichino, Vandyke, M. Angelo, 
Murillo, and others, together with some of the best 
of the modern schools. 

There are also some fine ancient bronzes and 
modern tables of mosaic, at the Uffixi Palace, one of 
these tables is said to have cost $40,000. There is 
also a very extensive collection of paintings, many 
of which are the best of the modern schools at the 
Academy of Fine Arts, and some private collections 
of merit. The natural history department of the 
Pitti Palace, as well as that of vegetable wax models, 
is considered very complete, and the anatomical 



CAMPANILLE. 16 

department of wax is not surpassed by any in the 
world. These attractions of Florence, together with 
her beautiful position, fine climate and intelligent 
society, render her the resort of the intellectual peo- 
ple of all countries, and entitle her to the honor, which 
is every where conceded, of being the Athens of 
modern Europe. We visited the principal churches, 
and found, as usual, some good statuary, fine pic- 
tures, and rich marbles. The duomo, or cathedral, 
is in outside appearance, as striped as the "Holy 
Zebra" (Dr. Bellows' church,) of New York, a "pyr- 
amid of precious stones/' being veneered all over 
with marble, which, with the stains of age, assumes a 
variety of colors. It is, however, a grand structure, 
and its dome was the model for St. Peters at Rome. 
The Campanille rises from the ground alongside, and 
is one of the finest towers in Europe. Its hight is 
two hundred and seventy-five feet, and it is also covered 
with marble of various kinds. Its architecture is of the 
highest style of Gothic art, and it is ornamented 
with some excellent bas reliefs, illustrative of the 
Old Testament. 

Near by is the Baptistery, the heavy bronze doors 
of which, richly ornamented in bas relief, M. Angelo 
declared were worthy to be the gates of Paradise. 



162 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

Two porphyry columns stand at these gates, received 
from the Pisans for the aid rendered them in their 
attack on Majorca in 1117 ; the floor and dome are 
inlaid in Mosaic. 

We observed that many of the churches here and 
elsewhere in Italy are unfinished. This is owing it 
is said to the fact that they are not taxed or taxable 
until completed. 

Santa Croce is the Westminster Abbey of Italy. 
But Italy's greatest dead, nevertheless, sleep else- 
where, and long and arduously have the Florentines 
striven to have the bones of Dante, Petrarch, Tasso, 
and Boccaccio removed to Sante Croce, but without 
avail. They loved not Florence living, nor Florence 
them, and dead, their bones should not minister to 
her pride. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

Vetturini — Benyamino— > Appenines — Pass of La Futa — Bologna 
— Leaning Towers — Collonade— Fine arts — Church of St. 
Dominick, the founder of the Inquisition — University of 
Bologna — Female Professors — -Laura Bassi — Madonna Man- 
zolina — Matilda Tambroni — Novella d 'Andrea, the beautiful 
Canonist — King Hensins — Lucia Vendaglio — Properzia de 
Rossi — Puppy dogs and sausages — Po and Adige Rivers — 
Ferrara — Ariosto — Tasso's dungeon — John Calvin — Ugo and 
Parasina — Effect of levees on the Po — Padua — Frescoes of 
Giotto — Palace of the blind Doge Dandolo. 

We left Florence by the same conveyance that 
brought us from Naples, our American friends the 
Messrs. Jones continuing in our company. These 
vetturini travel from one end of Italy to the other, 
and sometimes even into Germany and Switzerland, 
depending upon chance employment or return pas- 
sengers to pay their way home again. 

With the top thrown back, ours becomes an open 
carriage, holding four inside. The coupe, immediately 
in front, with a top like a buggy, affords seats for 
two more, and in front of all sits the driver. Both 

(163) 



164 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

the carriage and the coupe close with glass doors in 
case of rain. 

Beneath, a box is suspended containing the usual 
supply of cordage, so necessary in Italy for mending 
harness, &c, together with feed and other neces- 
saries. We make from thirty to forty miles per day, 
usually stopping at noon, and resting two or three 
hours. Our Vetturino is a prince of his class. 
Descending from a long line of illustrious vetturini, 
the family Pandolfo, Benyamino (or Benjamin,) being 
in direct line as heir, found himself at an early age, 
inducted into the mysteries of supporting his beasts 
on the least possible fodder, and driving them to the 
farthest endurance of horse-flesh, and soon became 
an expert in the use of the whip, which, with the six- 
fathom lash used here, is no small accomplishment. 
He also took high rank in the buono mano depart- 
ment, which is the science of making the best bar- 
gains possible with the traveler, and afterwards 
extracting all that his gratitude or his gullibility will 
permit, and indeed, so successful has he found him- 
self in his calling, that he stands confessedly at the 
head of the profession, 

Benyamino is, withal, very attentive to his duties, 
and, from having been born on a vettura, and 



APPENINES. 165 

rarely touching ground until he attained to the com- 
mand, he has grown to fit the seat he occupies in 
front of his vehicle. Standing six and a half feet in 
his stockings, he sits at least four — nature as usual, 
adapting herself to circumstances, and finding the 
pedal extremities useless, has thrown all her energies 
into the body, and in this case, through a plentiful 
supply of macaroni, has produced in reference to 
size, a chef d'oevre. Having but little use for the 
head, save as a lookout for his team, she has econo- 
mized in that direction, and from a constant holding 
of the ribbons, his back has assumed a Grecian bend, 
which any romantic miss, emulous of the classic, 
might well envy. Now imagine his constant " Yoop ! 
Yoop ! " and " Ao ! Ao ! " with an unceasing crack- 
ing of his long whip, and you have a portrait of our 
vetturino painted on the spot. 

We rested the first night at Covigliajo, amongst 
the highest peaks of the Appenines, which here rise 
to the height of more than four thousand feet. The 
road through this pass, the La Futa, is about three 
thousand feet above the sea, and is marked out by 
poles, like telegraph poles, as in winter the snow- 
drifts make it difficult to find. It is kept open by 
the government with great labor and expense. We 



166 NOTES DHAWN AT SIGHT. ' 

here found ourselves among the clouds, and a storm 
of wind and rain coming on, the change from the 
warm valley of the Arno was so sudden as to require 
a fire and our great coats to keep us comfortable. 
The scenery was very graud, and heightened as it 
was by the raging storm without, rendered our first 
night upon the Appenines one long to be remem- 
bered. 

The next morning's sun, however, dispelled the 
clouds from the mountain peaks, and as they rolled 
slowly down into the valleys and dissolved away, 
they disclosed the most beautiful landscapes we had 
ever beheld. Such are seen only in the beautiful 
and soft pictures of Italian scenery, by Claude. As 
we descended the long slopes towards Bologna to the 
north, we met loaded teams bound up, and some with 
as many as sixteen oxen and horses attached, to 
drag them up the steep ascents. These steers are 
kept ready at every post along the mountain side, 
by order of the government, and every carriage takes 
what are necessary paying a fixed price for them. 
Before reaching Bologna, we passed through the 
highly cultivated valley of the Reno. The villas of the 
nobility are here seen, tastefully built, and stuccoed, 
generally of a rose or buff color. They have shut- 



BOLOGNA. 167 

ters painted green, with roofs of red tiles ; and, seen 
at a short distance look very picturesque, and con- 
trast beautifully with the deep green foliage with 
which they are surrounded. 

Bologna is a singular city. Her leaning towers 
are the first features which strike one on approach- 
ing, and next the arcades or colonnades, which cover 
her sidewalks. The houses project over the pave- 
ments on arches, under which the pedestrian walks, 
protected from the sun or rain. We spent a few 
hours in examining the Academy of Fine Arts, where 
we saw some excellent pictures by the Caracci, 
Guido, Francesco Francia, Guercino, and others of 
note of the Bologna school, from whence have ema- 
nated some of the brightest names on the roll of art. 
The school is still in successful operation, and we 
saw some excellent modern pictures. 

We went hastily through the church of San Dom- 
inico, or St. Dominick, the founder of the Inquisi- 
tion. Here are a number of good pictures, princi- 
pally illustrative, however, of the miracles performed 
by that saint ; and, judging from the pictures, the 
miracles performed by our Savior were, to say the 
least, very small affairs. The tomb of the saint, 
and those of Guido and King Hensius, are in this 



168 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

church. Bologna has been distinguished in times 
past for her schools of law and medicine, and what 
is greatly to her honor, she has encouraged the other 
sex to enter the learned professions. The names of 
Laura Bassi, Professor of Mathematics and Natural 
philosophy, who held the degree of Doctor of Laws, 
and whose lectures were regularly attended by many 
learned ladies from France and Germany, who were 
members of the University; of Madonna Manzolina who 
graduated in surgery, and was Professor of Anatomy ; 
of Matilda Trambroni, Professor of Greek, the friend 
and immediate predecesssr of Cardinal Mezzofanti, 
are well known among the learned professions. And 
as far back as the fourteenth century, it is said that 
the celebrated Novella d' Andrea, daughter of the 
distinguished canonist of that name, often filled her 
father's chair during his absence, and that her beauty 
was so great that a curtain was drawn before her in 
order not to distract the class. 

" Lest if her charms were seen, the students 
Should let their young eyes wander o'er her, 
And quite forget their jurisprudence." — Moore. 

These celebrated ladies held professorships in the 
" Univeraity of Bologna," one of the oldest and 



KING HEN3IUS. 169 

most celebrated in Italy, if not in Europe. In the 
fourteenth century, the dissection of the human 
body was there first practiced, and in more recent 
times, galvanism was discovered, within its walls. 
No less than ten thousand students are said to have 
assembled there in 1262. 

The schools of Bologna still maintain a high char- 
acter in medicine, architecture and painting, but in 
jurisprudence they have been eclipsed by more 
modern rivals. Bologna is one of the most ancient 
cities in Italy ; said to have been founded by the 
Etruscan King, Felsina, (after whom it was named,) 
984 years B. C, and was the capital of the twelve 
cities of Etruria. Its name was changed by his 
successor, Bono, to Bononia, from whence Bologna. 
The important part which Bologna played in the 
contests of the middle ages, and the incidents which 
transpired within her gates and palaces, have given 
rise to numerous legends of more than common in- 
terest. 

We were shown the palace-prison where the unfor-, 
tunate young poet-king, Hensius, of Sardinia, taken 
prisoner in the long and bloody wars of the Gruelphs 
and Ghibellines, was confined through a long life 

(twenty two years,) all offers of ransom by his father, 

15 



170 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

the Emperor Frederick II, being refused by the cruel 
senate of the city. His sad fate, and his poetic 
strains awakened the pity, then the love of one of 
Bologna's fairest daughters, Lucia Vendaglio, who 
visited him under various disguises, in the palace of the 
Podesta, where he was confined and strictly guarded. 
Her love was returned, and from their romantic 
union sprang the celebrated family of Bentivoglio, 
who seized and held the government for a time in 
after years, when it was distracted and torn by the 
contending factions which grew out of the tragical 
death of the lovers, Imelda Lambertazzi and Boni- 
fazio Gieremei, so much like that of Edward of 
England and his devoted Eleanor. They also show 
you the " Temptation of Joseph," beautifully ex- 
ecuted in bas relief, in the Church of San Petronio, 
by that accomplished woman, Properzia de Rossi, at 
once a sculptor, painter, engraver, and musician, 
which works, it is believed, recorded the history of 
her own misfortunes. She died of love shortly after 
its completion. 

Bologna has been styled by some curious English 
writer, "A city of puppy dogs and sausages." This 
is a slander upon the distinguished Bolognese. It is 
true, they have upon their municipal coat of arms, 



PUPPY DOGS AND SAUSAGES. 171 

the figures of two fine dogs, commemorative, doubt- 
less, of valuable services rendered in ancient times 
bj the canine tribe. But since she has become so 
distinguished for the production of that delicious 
vegetable, the " mortadella" or sausage, dogs are 
rarely seen, and puppies do not thrive. This 
nicely adjusted compound is much better here than 
the poor imitations which are seen in the United 
States, and is a standing dish (first course) at dinner, 
which we ate with a sublime faith, much envied by 
both Mentor and Harry. The name of Bologna has 
gone abroad amongst the nations, more generally 
known to-day, however, in America, through the 
merit of her compound, than through the valuable 
contributions to human knowledge, for which the 
world is indebted to her, or the noble example which 
she was the first to set, of permitting and encourag- 
ing her women to enter the professions, and to teach 
in her colleges. Let her not be forgotten, however, 
nor her example lost upon us ; and when wandering 
through the busy mart of Sycamore street, hereafter, 
we see the long links looking like mummies suspended 
from the ceilings of the provision shops, therein con 
gregated, all redolent of smoke and appetizing smells, 
let us reflect that those links bear the name, and 



172 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

connect us with, a city and a people great in science, 
literature and art — a people who have always been 
staunch lovers of freedom — who many years ago 
inscribed " Libertas " upon their banner, and who, in 
all probability, were they able, would be an indepen- 
dant republic to-day. 

Leaving Bologna through the long colonnades which 
line either side of the street, presenting a very 
beautiful appearance, and passing again the leaning 
towers of brick, (one of which is three hundred and 
eighteen feet high,) which have excited, like that 
at Pisa, much discussion as to the cause of their in- 
clination, we emerged upon the rich flat country 
through which the Po and the Adige rivers flow, for 
many miles, between Bologna and Padua. The fields 
through which we passed were growing thick with 
corn, hemp, and fruits, and seemed to be cultivated 
in vast beds, from a quarter to a half mile in length 
by about two hundred yards in width, artificially 
rounded up in the center, apparently for drainage ; 
each bed was separated from its neighbor by a ditch, 
along which were planted trees, having vines hang- 
ing in festoons between them, resembling the long 
arcades of the city we had just left, with the arches 
reversed. 



UGO AND PARASINA, 173 

Towards night we reached Ferrara, with its wide 
and grass grown streets, once the residence of a 
court celebrated throughout Europe for its elegance 
and refinement, but now decayed and in ruins. It is 
interesting, as having been the residence of Ariosto, 
and the prison of Tasso, (whose dungeon we found 
time to visit,) but more particularly for its early 
devotion to the cause of the Reformation. Here 
many staunch Protestants found an asylum under 
the powerful protection of the high-minded daughter 
of Louis XII, the Dutchess Renee. She was con- 
verted to, or confirmed in, the Protestant faith by 
John Calvin, who spent some months here, incognito 
under the assumed name of Charles Heppeville. An 
old feudal castle, flanked by towers, and surrounded 
by an ample moat filled with water, having drawbridge, 
portcullis, &c, occupies a conspicuous position in 
the center of the city, and carries the mind back to 
the middle ages. Here Ugo and Parasina, were con- 
fined and in the street in front were beheaded. The 
circumstances of that dreadful tragedy are made 
familiar to ail through the beautiful poem of Lord 
Byron. 

There are some good paintings still retained here 
in the Churches, and in the Pinacotheca Municipale, 



174 NOTES DKAWN AT SIGHT. 

or city gallery ; the city having purchased the palace 
of the Este's, " that antique brood," which has 
passed away, and collected together a respectable 
gallery of excellent pictures. Ferrara differs from 
any other Italian city in having one long wide street 
through the center, about one and a half miles long, 
with sidewalks — -a thing unusual in Italy. 

The next morning we crossed the Po, a wide and 
muddy river, much resembling the Mississippi. By 
the successive and constant leveeing of its banks for 
many ages, the deposits brought from the mountains 
in the interior have lodged upon the bed of the river, 
until now it runs upon a ridge high above the surround- 
ing plain, presenting a very singular appearance, and 
causing much anxiety to the inhabitants, as the evil 
is increasing, and the time must come when the water 
will seek another outlet to the sea. Every year the 
banks require to be increased in height, and inunda- 
tions are of frequent occurrence. From this we may 
see the effect of leveeing on our southern rivers, and 
learn wisdom in time. Having a few moments at 
Padua before the departure of the train for Venice, 
we visited the celebrated frescoes of Giotto, which, 
although damaged by time and neglect, retain much 
of their original fine coloring. We reached Venice 



DANDOLO. 175 

about dark, the railroad being carried out to the city 
upon a causeway, and were hurried into a novel omni- 
bus, (a gondola,) for the Hotel de la Yille, where we 
are very comfortably lodged on the Grand Canal, or 
" Broadway " of Venice, in the Palace of old " Dan- 
dolo," the blind doge, who led the arms of Venice 
successfully against Constantinople, and beat back 
the Turk from. Southern Europe. The song] ess 
gondolier flits by our windows, his gondola covered 
with a black pall, as if mourning over the condition 
of his native city. The glory of Venice has departed. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

Venice — Gondolas — Canals — House of Othello — Bianca Capello 
— Shylock — Infamous pillar — Banco Giro — Guidecca — Life 
blood — Winged lion of St. Mark — Saint Theodore — Basilica — 
Its columns — Bronze horses — Ducal Palace — Council of Ten — ■ 
Lions mouth — Bridge of sighs — Prisons — Hall of the Doges — 
Canova's tomb — Moonlight. 

" The sea is in the broad, the narrow streets 
Ebbing and flowing, and the salt sea weed 
Clings to the marble of her palaces, 
* * * * -:& * * 

Steering in — 
And gliding up her streets as in a dream 
So smoothly — silently, by many a dome 
Mosque-like, and many a stately portico, 
The statues ranged along an azure sky ; 
By many a pile in more than Eastern pride 
Of old, the residence of merchant kings ; 
The fronts of some, tho' Time had shattered them, 
Still glowing with the richest hues of art, 
As tho' the wealth within them had run o'er." 

One can hardly express the strange feelings which 

overcome him when he finds himself for the first 

time gliding through the noiseless streets of Venice 
(176) 



GONDOLAS. 177 

— the most wonderful, and in many respects, the 
most interesting city in the world. Shakspeare, 
Tasso, Rogers, Byron, and others have embalmed her 
in the drama and in song. Oft has the imagination 
revelled with delight in the palaces of her Doges or 
shuddered with horror at the bridge of sighs, and the 
dark dungeons of the Council of Ten. Thus when 
we at last see her 

" Rising with her tiara of proud towers " 

like a " sea cybele fresh from ocean," a halo of 
mystery and romance surrounds her which is felt 
but can not be described. 

We engaged a gondola for our use during our 
stay here, and at once began our explorations. 
These gondolas are not at all what we had pictured to 
ourselves — an ornamental institution, with carved 
and gilded prow and elevated cabin behind, with 
curtains of lace, &c, &c, but simply a long canoe- 
shaped boat, sharp at both ends, which rise from the 
water — identical in form with the Indian bark or 
skin canoe of America, or the South Sea Islander's 
surf boat. They are doubtles the easiest model to 
propel through the water; but it struck us as a little 
singular, that ages of civilized experience had at last 

adopted the model, which unassisted nature seems to 
16 



178 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

have suggested to the rude savages in our own 
country. 

They are propelled by one or two rowers, as the 
case may be, one standing at each end, and pushing 
instead of pulling on the oar, which rests on a 
single crooked pin, with a groove to receive it, but 
which is never fastened, as it requires to be con- 
stantly shifted or removed when passing another 
boat, or approaching the shore. Chairs or cushioned 
seats, occupy the center of the boat, and when 
required, a kind of cabin, with windows, is placed 
over them, removable at pleasure. This canopy, as 
well as the boat itself, is required by law to be 
painted black. The object being to suppress the ex- 
cessive extravagance which the Venetians formerly 
displayed in adorning and gilding their gondolas. 
It gives them, however, a very hearse-like appear- 
ance. 

The steps of the houses, generally of marble, 
descend to the water as ours to the pavement. The 
sea flows through the streets, clear and, pure in a 
constant current of one or two miles an hour, owing 
to a tide of about three feet in the Adriatic. This 
carries off all the offal of the city, and keeps the 
water always fresh and sweet. We were surprised 



BIANCA CAPELLO. 179 

to observe this, as we had supposed there was little 
if any tide here. We were rowed by the house of 
Othello, (Cristofo Moro) on the Campo del Carmine. 
The gloomy statue of the Moor frowned upon us 
from a niche in the front, as we glided swiftly by 
the crumbling walls, seeming to say — what time is 
rapidly accomplishing, with the Palazzo Moro, "put 
out the light." The palace of the fair Bianca Ca- 
pello, stands upon the Grand canal. This maiden's 
history is well known. She abandoned her home, 
eloping with a worthless fellow — one Pietro Bona- 
ventura, and her portrait, stepping from the marble 
palace of her father into her lover's gondola, adorns 
every piece of music having the most remote refer- 
ence thereto, ever since. The ungrateful scamp 
abandoned her, however, at Florence, so history 
tells us, a warning to all disobedient daughters. She 
afterwards became distinguished as the wife of Fran- 
cisco de Medicis. Next we went to the spot in the 
Jews quarter, near the Rialto, where Shylock in- 
sisted upon his pound of flesh from Antonio's side. 
There is an open court or piazza in front of the 
church of San Jacopo, in which still stands what is 
called the "Infamous pillar," where debtors failing 
to pay were publicly exposed all one day. Latterly 



180 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

it has been used to expose petty criminals upon ; a 
kind of stocks. 

The column is a few feet in hight and is ascended 
by a flight of steps. Here was the "Banco Giro," 
and all difficulties or disputes arising between the 
merchants in the days of the commercial greatness 
of Venice, were also here adjusted. It was near 
this spot that the circumstances occurred which 
gave the text to Shakspeare's play of the " Merchant 
of Venice." 

The sons of Levi still hold the region round about 
by the influence of possession. They were busily 
plying their avocations in jewelry and " old clo," 
and scowled upon us from their windows, wondering, 
no doubt, what brought these Christian dogs here, so 
curiously prying into the mysteries of the Guidecca, 
or Jews' quarter. 

" You spat upon my Jewish gabardine and called 
me dog, and I will have my bond, my bond," was 
suddenly hissed into our ears from behind. We 
turned and stood confronted — not with Shylock — 
but with Harry, who had, with the rest of our friends, 
come by another way, in search of this interesting 
locality. Seeing our party so suddenly augmented, 
the junior Levites began to gather about us in un- 



ST. THEODORE. 181 

comfortable proximity, and fearing that our purse, 
which here is our life-blood, might not be quite as 
sacred as the blood of Antonio, we suddenly beat 
a retreat to our gondola, and steered to the Piazza 
di San Marco. We, here saw the bronze Lion of St. 
Mark, the great emblem of the republic, together 
with the statue of St. Theodore, the original and now 
joint protector (?) of the liberties of Venice, They 
are in the Piazetta or square overlooking the harbor, 
each on the top of a massive granite column. These 
columns are of Byzantine origin and very beautifully 
executed. They were brought from the Holy Land, 
in 1127, and have consequently stood here over 700 
years. The Saint stands with his foot upon a cro- 
codile — looking daggers, and shaking his sword at 
the winged lion, which occupies the other column 
hard by, with his fore paw resting upon a book. 
The sword is held in the left hand the right being 
occupied with a shield — beautifully symbolical, that 
the republic exerted her strong arm for defence 
rather than for attack. 

Alas ! that this martial saint, this watchman on 
the outer wall, should have traitorously winked at 
the outrage of the French in carrying off his com- 
rade, the winged lion to Paris (since returned) ! Or 



182 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

that by their joint vigilance they could not have 
kept the insidious Austrian serpent from stealing 
into the citadel and crushing out beneath his slimy 
folds the last vestige of Venetian liberty. But his- 
tory records if the marble does not, the treachery or 
the unfaithfulness of the church ; and this once great 
republic, the mistress of the world, now lies bound 
and bleeding at the feet of the tyrant of Austria ; 
while, as if in silent mockery, her national emblem, 
the winged lion, planted with pride wherever her 
victorious arms broke the chains which bound people 
to princes, and drove back the insolent Turk from 
the fair plains of southern Europe, still rests upon 
his proud pedestal in the place of St. Mark, crouch- 
ing in shame beneath the folds of a conqueror's flag; 
while St. Theodore, the emblem of the Judas of this 
tragedy, stands unblushingly exposed to the gaze of 
men, with sword in hand, a lesson and a warning to 
all future time, that the liberties of a republic can 
never be safely entrusted to, nor its power shared with 
the church. May its lesson not be lost on the world. 
Venice presents a very boautiful appearance as 
seen from the harbor, looking toward the place of 
St. Mark. The Basilica, or Cathedral, with its 
mosque-like domes and spires, occupies a conspicu- 



THE BASILICA. 183 

ous position, and is one of the most remarkable 
buildings in Europe. It is of the Byzantine order 
of architecture, though partly composite, and has 
more of the oriental character about it than is seen 
elsewhere, out of Constantinple or the East. It 
was begun in 977 and the whole power of the repub- 
lic was enlisted for many years in perfecting and 
adorning it. Every vessel that cleared for the East 
was obliged to bring back marble and materials with 
which to complete this structure, and therefore the 
five hundred columns which are seen within and 
around it, embrace all varieties of the fiest marbles 
and carvings — the plundered spoils of Pagan temples 
in Asia and Western Europe. Some of these col- 
umns have Armenian and Syrian characters graven 
upon them, and many ancient tablets and bas reliefs 
of Greecian, Persian^ and Assyrian origin, are in- 
serted in the walls around the lobbies of the church. 
A slab of red marble in the pavement of the vesti- 
bule, marks the spot where the Pope, Alexander III, 
placed his foot upon the neck of the prostrate Em- 
peror Barbarossa, repeating the words *' Thou shalt 
tread upon the lion and the adder." Some fine 
mosaics cover the walls and the ceilings ; beautifully 
and exquisitely wrought bronze doors guard the 



184 'NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

Sacristy, and the canopy of the chief altar is sup- 
ported upon four fluted spiral columns, said to have 
come from. the temple at Jerusalem ; they are of 
oriental alabaster. Over the main entrance stand 
the four celebrated bronze horses, brought from the 
hippodrome at Constantinople, during the Fourth 
Crusade, when that city was taken by the Crusaders, 
which were retained by the Venetians as a part of their 
share of the spoils. They were taken to Paris in 
1815, but again returned. Their origin is unknown, 
but they have figured in ancient history from the 
time they were brought from Alexandria by Augus- 
tus, after his conquest of Anthony, and placed upon 
a triumphal arch at Rome, clown through successive 
emperors, who erected triumphal arches, each in his 
turn placing these highly prized works of art upon 
them, until under Constantine they were taken to 
Constantinople, and from thence by the Venetians. 
They are very spirited, and probably are of Greek 
origin. 

From the Basilica, we turned to the Ducal Palace, 
where we saw the celebrated chamber of the Council 
of Ten, with the lion's mouth, in which anouymous 
information was often placed which sent many to 
the scaffold or to the gloomy prison, separated from 



HALL OF THE DOGES. 185 

the Palace only by a narrow canal, over which passes 
the Bridge of Sighs, connecting them together. We 
ascended the Giant's Staircase, and were conducted 
over this bridge of melancholy interest, and down 
into the deep dark dungeons of the prison by a bust- 
ling old man to whom the cruelties which he de- 
scribed as having been practiced here, seemed to be 
a god-send. From these mournful scenes we as- 
cended to the great hall of the Doges, where we saw 
some fine paintings by Tintoretto, Paul Veronese 
and others, when feeling fatigued, we adjourned to 
Plorian's celebrate cafe, near by, in the place of St. 
Mark, for an ice. While here, the great clock struck 
and two bronze figures of Moors, large as life, 
hammered out the hours upon a bell. One of these 
figures is said to have committed murder by striking 
a workman on the head during the progress of some 
repairs. Immediately on the stroke of two the air 
was darkened with pigeons. They alighted in vast 
numbers upon the "pavement, and we learned that 
they have been regularly fed by the authorities at 
this hour from time immemorial. They are super- 
stitiously cared for and protected by the Venetian peo- 
ple, and it is a curious sight to see them flocking into 
the square every day at the exact hour of two o'clock. 



186 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

We visited the Academia delle Belle Arti, where 
we saw some excellent paintings, among others the 
celebrated Assumption of the Virgin, by Titian, and 
his last work, the Deposition. But we saw nothing 
in the arts at Venice which impressed us so much 
as the tombs of Titian and Canova, at the Frari 
Church, especially the latter. It is Canova's own 
design, being a repetition of that of the Archduchess 
Christina, at Vienna, and represents a pyramidal 
tomb with art, genius, &c, as mourners. The whole 
is executed in white marble, and is very affecting 
and imposing. 

In the evening we sailed again upon the Grand 
Canal, the fashionable promenade. The Signoras 
were out in great numbers, enjoying the delightful 
evening air. Boats, with gaily colored paper lan- 
terns, and filled with musicians, instrumental and 
vocal, both male and female, were rowing slowly 
about, discoursing sweet music. Crowds of gondolas 
swiftly passing or lazily floating, their inmates seem- 
ing to feel that in this soft climate, and at that quiet 
evening hour, it was a happiness to live. At the 
Piazza Di San Marco, an Austrian band was playing, 
and the place was filled with people who had come 
here to enjoy it, and to meet each other at this 



MOONLIGHT. 187 

agreeable resort. Crowds were seated before the cafes 
taking refreshments, and, as the moon was just 
rising and illuminating the, domes and spires of the 
Basilica, and silvering the long colonnade of Byzan- 
tine arches opposite Florians, where we sat, showing 
in bold relief upon the clear sky beyond, the horses 
of St. Mark looking down from their proud hight 
upon the moving mass below, we thought we had 
never seen any thing so fairy like before, and we 
felt loth, the next day, to leave a place where so 
much enjoyment could so easily be had. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

Verona — Tomb of Juliet — Houses of the Montague and Capulet 
— The Balcony— The Adige— Milan— Lake of Como— Villa of 
Count Taverna — Storm amongst the mountains — Lake Lugano 
— Maggiore — Isola Bella. 

We had sent Bcnyamino, our Italian vetturino, on 

to Bavino upon Lake Maggiore, there to await our 

arrival, as we had engaged him for our tour in 

Switzerland, We therefore left Venice the next day 

for the renowned Lake of Como, by railroad to Milan, 

stopping, however, at Yerona, to visit the tomb of 

all the Capulets, and particularly that of Juliet, 

(Guiletta.) Alas, how are the mighty fallen ! What 

would our love-sick swains or damsels think, to be 

shewn, for the tomb of the sweet Juliet — actually a 

pig trough. Yet such is the case. It is a marble 

sarcophagus, which had evidently been converted into 

a feeding trough, until of late years it is found 

more profitable to the custode to show it for the tomb. 

It seems tolerably well authenticated, however, and 

Maria Louisa, some years since, established its claims 

(188 ) 



THE BALCONY. 189 

to be the true Mecca of lovers, by having some bits 
broken off and made into her jewelry, since which 
its authenticity has not been doubted here. 

We were shewn both the " plaguy houses," of the 
Montague and Capulets, (as " Mercutio calls them in 
the play," vide Mrs. Partington) and found them both, 
wretched little dirty Albergoes, for donkey drivers and 
country people. At the latter house, upon a balcony 
overlooking a garden — perhaps the very same where 
the fair Juliet's willing ear drank in the quick con- 
fession of Romeo's love — sat a mahogony colored 
damsel, with frousy hair, unconsciously leaning her 
cheek upon her hand. She was blissfully ignorant, 
evidently, of her somewhat ancient prototype — and 
we turned away without the most remote desire to 
be a glove upon that hand, or to touch that cheek. 

Shakspeare seems to be adopted by the Yeronese 
as the veritable and perfectly reliable historian of the 
families of the Montague and Capulet, and hence 
these relics. There is an old Roman amphitheatre 
here, in good preservation ; second only to the Col- 
liseum. A play was being enacted on a temporary 
stage within the circle, and the two or three thousand 
people ranged up the seats, gave us an idea of their 
appearance when filled in Roman times. 



190 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

Yerona is a very beautiful town, as indeed are all 
these Lombard Venetian towns. It is situated on 
both sides of the Adige, w r hich flows rapidly through 
it, from the Alps, that are here in sight. Numerous 
floating mills are anchored in the stream, their wheels 
revolving with the rapid current, presenting the ap- 
pearance of the stern wheel steamers which we see 
upon our western rivers. Castes crown the hills 
next to the city. 

Next morning we reached Milan, where we spent 
the afternoon in examining the great Cathedral, and 
driving on the Corso, a beautifully shaded drive upon 
the elevated ramparts around the city, where, as in 
Florence, to be distingue^ one must be seen every 
afternoon in full dress. 

The next morning we visited Leonardo Da, 
Vinci's great fresco, " The Last Supper," now much 
defaced by dampness and neglect, and the great 
triumphal arch began by Napoleon after his conquest 
of Italy, and since finished by the Austrians, who 
have changed the monument, however, from being a 
record of their defeat to one of triumph. But history 
remains. 

We left Milan, content to escape her poor and dear 
hotels, and delighted to find ourselves, after an hour's 



LAKE OF COMO. 191 

ride by rail, upon the charming Lake of Como. 
Here at "Como," we found a steamer, but preferring a 
rowboat, we selected one large enough for our party, 
and reclining upon the easy cushions and shaded 
by an awning, we were rowed gently up the 
lake. 

Our moderate speed allowed us time to admire the 
beautiful villas, adorned with statues and embowered 
in shrubbery, which line its banks. High mountains 
clothed in the brightest of green, with an occasional 
patch of snow near their summits, in the cliffs of the 
rocks, showing their great height, formed the back- 
ground to this charming picture. We landed for a 
few moments at the villa of Count Taverna, adjoining 
that of Madame Pasta, and but a short distance from 
the site of the villa of Pliny. Near here are also 
the beautiful villas of the Prince Beljiojoso and 
Madame Taglioni, the once famed danseuse. 

While walking through these romantic grounds, 
laid out with artistic taste, and fragrant with the 
lemon, the orange and the magnolia, all of which 
flourish here, and admiring the beautiful statues, 
grottoes and fountains with which they are adorned, 
we thought of the description given by Claude Mel- 
notte, in the •' Lady of Lyons," of his palace by the 



192 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

Lake of Como, and, although a fiction, we all admitted 
it was not an exaggeration : 

" Sublime, but neither bleak nor bare, 
Nor misty, are the mountains there ; 
Softly sublime — profusely fair, 
Up to their summits, clothed in green, 
And fruitful as the vales between, 

They lightly rise, 

And scale the skies, 
And groves and ga'rdens still abound ; 

For where no shoot 

Could else take root, 
The peaks are shelved and terraced round. 

* * * $ * 

Far down, the foot must roam to reach 
The lovely lake and bending beach ; 
While chesnut green, and olive gray, 
Chequer the steep and winding way. 

We spent the night at Cadenabia, a charming spot 
with pleasant shady walks along the lake shore under 
hedges of myrtle, twenty feet in height. The moun- 
tains here rise so abruptly and high, that we found 
it difficult to convince ourselves that the lake was 
nearly six miles in width, and it was not until we 
observed villas and cottages perched upon the oppo- 
site mountain slopes, looking like martin boxes, that 



ISOLA BELLA. 193 

by comparison we were enabled to judge of the dis- 
tance. The water is very clear and deep, and the 
shores in most places bold. A thunder storm came 
up during the evening, and we enjoyed the sublime 
spectacle of the mountain peaks, lighted up by the 
sudden flashes, and heard the "live thunder " echo- 
ing among the crags. It soon passed, however, and 
the moon burst out from beneath the dark clouds, 
silvering o'er hill and valley, and now quiet lake with 
its mild radiance, quite in contrast with "the roar and 
turmoil we had witnessed but an hour before. The next 
day we passed up Lake Lugano, in a steamer, a very 
rugged, sombre and solitary spot, to the town of 
Lugano, and from thence by carriage to Luino, on 
Lake Maggiore. From here we took the steamer to 
Bavino, where we found Benyamino awaiting us. 

The celebrated Borromean Islands, belonging to 
a family of that name, lie near this place in Lake 
Maggiore. We visited the " Isola Bella," upon which 
they have a summer palace or villa. It is a very 
fairy-like place — was originally a barren rock — and 
the extensive gardens and grounds have all been 
artificially created. They are full of rare trees, 
shrubs and flowers, among which we saw the camphor 

tree, and the groves are alive with birds. This was 
17 



194 NOTES DKAWN AT SIGHT. 

the head quarters of Napoleon during the Italian 
invasion, and here he planned the battle of Marengo. 
The bed is still kept as he left it with the furniture, 
&c, undisturbed. Some letters cut by him in a tree 
are shown. This family is not in good odor with the 
Austrian Government and therefore reside at Turin. 
They are liberals, although an old aristocratic family 
and like the Princess Beljiojoso, who has a villa on 
Lake Como, they have been objects of hatred to the 
Austrians, and suffered much for their liberal opin- 
ions. Lake Maggiore is larger and less romantic 
than Como, though its shores are studded with vil- 
lages and pleasant villas. We leave for the Alps to- 
morrow. 



CHAPTER XX. 

Bavino — Tosa River — Domo d'Ossola — Trouting amongst the 
Alps — A Piscatorial mystery — The problem solved — A miss — 
A cold duck — The Simplon Pass — Gallery of Grondo — Cascade 
of the Frascinnone — The top — Hospice — Houses of refuge — 
Fourth of July — Toasts and song — Brieg — The Rhone — Mar- 
tigny — Tete Noire — The Valais — The Col. de Forclaz — Hard 
ride — French leave — Ascent of Montanver — Mer de glace — ■ 
Diligence — Frost formation. 

Baveno is a pleasant village upon the shores of 
Lake Maggiore, overlooking the Borromean Islands 
in front, and protected from the sharp Alpine winds 
in the rear, by a high range of mountains, called 
Monte Monterone. 

Here is obtained the beautiful rose granite so ex- 
tensively used in Northern Italy, and near by also 
the white marble, from which the great Cathedral at 
Milan is built. Having fortified our vettura with 
wine and woolens against the change of temperature, 
incident to these mountain passes, we started for the 
Simplon, following up the valley of the Tosa, which 
is here an abounding river, flowing into the Lake. 

The sudden floods which the storms and the melting 

(195) 



196 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

of the snows create in these Alpine valleys, had 
swept away the bridges, and we were forced to cross 
the rapid and dangerous stream a few miles up, upon 
a crazy boat, which swung from shore to shore by 
the force of the current, arriving afDomo d'Ossola, 
the last town of any importance on the Italian side 
of the Alps, early in the afternoon. Here travelers 
usually spend the night preparatory to ascending the 
mountain, but we found the only Albergo so unprepos- 
sessing, and the town itself so dirty, that we rattled 
on through its filthy streets to a clean country inn 
some miles further up the valley. 

The Italian vetturini always drive through the 
streets of a village with wonderful cracking of whip, 
and all the hurly burly possible, to the great admi- 
ration of the Signorinas who crowd the windows, and 
terror of all the old women and little dogs who happen 
to be abroad. Benyamino, on leaving Italy, wished 
to make a last favorable display of his team, and it 
required, therefore, all the address of which he was 
capable, aided by his freely applied six-fathom lash, 
and accompanied by sundry hard Italian words, to 
clear the way, and avoid running over some of the 
dirty, barelegged lazzaroni, and deformed beggars, 
which thronged the streets 



A PISCATORIAL MYSTERY. 197 

From hence we began gradually to ascend, the 
Tosa becoming a brawling mountain torrent flowing 
from the melting glaciers far up among the clouds. 
Arriving at the Hostelrie, which looked clean and 
comfortable enough, with appetites sharpened by the 
clear air, we bethought us of the fine mountain trout, 
for which these streams are renowned, and bringing 
our limited knoweclge of the French to bear, we en- 
quired of the maitre if he could furnish some for 
supper. He replied promptly in the affirmative, as 
if it were a matter of course, and calling to " Jean," 
who seemed to be the piscatorial purveyor of the 
establishment, cried out " allez pechez " in a loud 
voice. Visions of these speckled delicacies, fresh 
from the brook and " done brown," rose in imagina- 
tion before us. Our salivary secretions were in- 
creased, — (we are fond of fish ! ) On translating to . 
our party the conversation we had held, and the 
progress of our negotiations, an involuntary move- 
ment of the lips of all took place, very much like 
smacking. Meantime, "Jean," who had gone in search 
of his armament, returned with a baton or pole, 
having a cord attached to one end, and a spear or 
single barb inserted in the other. Shade of old 
Izaak Walton ! we exclaimed on seeing this prepara- 



198 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

tion — are the fish not caught yet? And the recol- 
lection of long hours and days spent in troutless 
bobbing in times gone by, made our hopes decline as 
rapidly as they rose. Our mouth dried up again like 
a toper's in the morning. 

We recollected the excellent Mrs. Glass' excellent 
advice to " catch your turtle before making the soup." 
and half repented that we had suggested this addition 
to our bill of fare ; seeing, and feeling, too, that our 
inner man required prompt gastronomical attention, 
after a hard day's ride. To await Jean's luck (sup- 
posing it to be like our own) was to postpone our 
meal to a very indefinite period, to say the least, and 
we were about to propose a chamois steak instead; but 
the strong smell of a goat hard by, warned us that 
the Italian cuisine was not in all things reliable, and 
goat's meat, and goat's milk are our aversion. How 
long will it take you Jean to provide the fish for 
our supper ? We succeeded in making him under- 
stand. " Tree minute Mo-sieur, only tree minute." 
" But where are your hook and line?" " Ah, me 
not have ze hook. Me take him wiz ze baton ; " 
at the same time making a demonstration with his 
long lance in the direction of our left pedal by way 
of illustrating the manner in which he would probe 



THE PROBLEM SOLVED. 199 

them, which made us spring to avoid being impaled. 
Here was a piscatorial mystery. The wily trout 
taken in three minutes, without line, hook, or fly, 
and with a certainty which the confidence of Jean 
and the landlord, left no room to doubt. Perhaps 
the great problem which had so long agitated the 
piscatorial savans of the " Saint Lawrence Fishing 
Club of Cincinnati," (of which we have the honor to 
be an humble member,) was now about to be solved, 
" How to catch fish when they refuse to bite." Our 
curiosity was ' fully aroused, and we determined to 
accompany Jean, and witness the process. We might 
at least be able to pick up a jisky item for the next 
meeting of the society referred to. Following up 
the rushing torrent, which here comes tumbling down 
from the mountains in miniature Niagaras, we wound 
around precipices and along narrow ledges with 
scarce a foothold, to where a rock jutting out into 
the angry flood, formed a deep, dark pool below it, 
in which the maddened waters seemed to rest a mo- 
ment, to take breath, for their further descent down 
the valley. Placing himself upon the outer verge of 
this rock, with finger on his lip, Jean beckoned to 
us to come forward, at the same time handing us the 
spear, and, pointing to the pool, indicated by panto- 



200 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

mine, that the fellows were there, and all we had to 
do was to strike. But we saw no fish, and panto- 
mimed him back again to take one himself, and show 
us the trick. Preparing himself, therefore, and pois- 
ing his weapon, he dropped an insect upon the sur- 
face of the water, which he had caught as we walked 
along, when instantly a fine trout darted from the 
shadow of the rock beneath, and seized the tempting 
bait ; but at the same instant the sure aim of Jean 
transfixed him upon the spear, and he was drawn 
quivering upon the rock above. This was exciting, 
our blood was up, and eagerly seizing the weapon 
and placing ourself, with great caution and cat-like 
tread, lance in rest, at the proper spot, we motioned 
to Jean to drop in the fly. 

It fell fluttering upon the glassy pool, which it had 
no sooner touched, than the great grandfather of the 
tribe sprang toward it. Quick as thought, we threw 
our javelin, aiming at the fellow's head. But we had 
not counted upon a miss, and losing our footing, 
the cord attached to our wrist drew us headlong into 
a colder bath than we have ever before experienced. 
The water was deep, and it was with some difficulty, 
aided by Jean, that we were enabled to reach the 
shore again, frozen to a glacier by the icy torrent 



THE SIMPLON PASS. 201 

and ready to barter almost our hopes of bliss here- 
after for a seat at the comfortable fire in the cuisine, 
where we had seen our cook engaged in preparing 
our evening meal. With all the haste our chilled 
pedals would permit, we sought the fire, thinking of 
Dr. Kane and the frozen sea all the way ; and, here- 
after, when the mercury sinks out of sight into the 
bulb, and the thermometer no longer marks the de_ 
gree of cold, we shall have no difficulty in realizing 
it, by reflecting upon our attempt at trouting amongst 
the Alps, and the half hour which succeeded that 
fatal plunge. 

Up ! up ! up ! the next day, along the Val Doveria, 
we pursued our way upon a road of easy grade, and as 
smooth as our best turnpikes. The mighty energy and 
genius of Napoleon has here overcome every obstacle 
and constructed through these gorges, one of the finest 
roads which connects Italy with the rest of Europe. 

Torrents have been bridged with substantial arches; 

long galleries built to guard the traveler from the 

terrible avalanches which in winter come sweeping 

down from the mountain sides, filling the valleys with 

the accumulated snow ; the solid granite tunnelled 

where no foothold could be had outside, and the road 

carried around precipices where the workmen and 
18 



202 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

engineers were suspended by ropes until a standing 
place could be hewed in the perpendicular cliffs. 

The Gallery of Gondo is one of the most remark- 
able of these tunnels, being cut nearly six hundred 
feet through the hard granite. As we entered it, we 
passed under the roaring water fall of the Frascin- 
none flowing from the melting glaciers above. It is 
carried over the road upon a stone arch, and precip- 
itated far down into the valley below. 

Here the abrupt cliffs on either side are wildly 
sublime ; the distant peaks rise up " milking the 
clouds," while the lacteal streams are seen tracing 
their white and shining course down the mountain sides 
or leaping in romantic cascades from dizzy heights. 

From the verdant Italian valleys, shaded with the 
thrifty chestnut, and carpeted with flowers, we passed 
successively through the region of the pine, the 
rhododendron, the beautiful Alpine rose, and the 
mosses, until finally the last vestige of vegetation 
yielded to unremitting frost, and we stood wrapped 
in our cloaks and buffalo robes, upon the top of the 
Simplon, in the bracing air, and surrounded by the 
snows of an eternal winter. Here a hospice is built of 
substantial stone where a branch of the monks of St. 
Bernard reside with their huge dogs, ready to afford 



FOURTH OF JULY. 203 

succor to the benighted or storm-caught traveler. 

There are also a number of houses of refuge along 
the road, upon either side of the mountain, for 
shelter in case of need. One is impressed with a 
feeling of deep awe in these elevated solitudes. Not 
a living thing is seen, not a sound disturbs the 
mysterious silence, and we seem to stand as it were in 
the immediate presence of the Deity. The clay was 
clear and bright, not a cloud obstructed the view. 
Monte Rosa with its delicate tinge of red, and the 
Jung-frau dressed like a bride for the altar, shone in 
the sunlight ; and around us, " Alp on Alp arose," 
covered with marbled snow as far as eye could reach. 

This being the 4th of July, we felt it was the hour 
and the place to drink a bottle of wine, in memory 
of our nation's birth day. The East, West, North, 
and South, were represented by the different mem- 
bers of our party, and with a hearty patriotism we 
drank the usual toasts, not forgetting Wm. Tell, the 
Swiss patriot, and closing with "Woman ! the Yung- 
frau of our boyhood — beautiful in the purity of her 
virgin snow, but glorious ! when lighted up with the 
rosy hues of love, she becomes the Monte Rosa of 
our maturer years." Having finished sundry bottles 
of " Marsala," which we had brought along for the 



204 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

occasion, and awakening the echoes of these solitudes 
with Hail Columbia and Yankee Doodle, in which 
both Paul and Benyamino heartily joined, on learn- 
ing they were our national airs, we drove rapidly 
down to the village of Brieg, upon the Rhone, which 
seemed to lie at our feet, although we found it a 
good three hours drive distant. 

Here the Rhone comes rushing down from his 
mountain home, all flushed and excited with his long 
struggle to escape the glacier and the avalanche, 
which have attempted to restrain him. His hoary 
old father, the Alp, would fain hold him in his chilly 
embrace forever, and prevent him from wandering 
off amongst the temptations of the valley. Once 
upon the plain, however, he goes leaping and frisking 
along, kissing the bluebells and forget-me-nots which 
line his banks, and dallying with the long grasses 
which come down to drink of his cool and refreshing 
waters, exulting, like youth, in his wild freedom from 
paternal restraint, 

" When his fair course is not limited, 

He makes sweet music with the enameled stones, 

Giving a gentle kiss to every sedge 

He overtaketh in his pilgrimage; 

And so by many a winding brook he strays 

With willing course, to the wild ocean." 



TETE NOIRE. 205 

But all ! he little recks the perils which await him on 
the way ; how his strong locks will be shorn by the 
Delilahs of the valle}^, w T ho will draw off his strength, 
to water their growing fields; how Vulcan will harness 
him to forge his iron thunderbolts ; how the miller 
will set him to grinding corn, and the weaver to driv- 
ing the flying shuttle ; how he will be parched be- 
neath the burning sun of the plain, and long for his 
cool home amongst the mountains again, and how he 
will be at last swallowed up and lost in that great 
ocean, towards which he is so rapidly hastening. 

We spent the night at Martigny, and the next 
morning started upon the hardest riding mule it has 
ever been our evil' fortune to bestride, to cross the 
Tete Noire pass. The road is a romantic one, and 
the views magnificent. Beautiful landscapes of the 
Yalais and the distant Rhone, lay behind us as we 
ascended to the Col de Forclaz, through the terrific 
gorge of the Trient. On attaining the summit we 
enjoyed a view of Mont Blanc, the only opportunity 
we had while in Switzerland, and passing some fine 
glaciers, rapidly descended to Chamouni, where w T e 
arrived late in the afternoon, by dint of walking 
frequently, for the purpose of resting. 

Early next morning our Alabama friends took 



206 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

french-leave of us, starting in the diligence for 
Geneva without giving us a parting word. The 
weather looked lowry and unfavorable for moun- 
tain climbing — but not to lose a day, we made the 
ascent of Montanvest, in company with Harry and 
S. Ranlett, Esq., of St. Louis, whom we met here : 
Mentor wisely electing to remain at the hotel and 
recruit. It began to rain after we commenced the 
ascent and on arriving at the top we were wet to the 
skin. They do not mind this in the mountains, how- 
ever., and we found the little Pavilion or Inn, full of 
" tourists," eager to see something, if the rain would 
only permit. We dried our garments before a good 
fire, which we found there, and then descended upon 
the " Mer de glace," or sea of ice, under our um- 
brellas. This great sea of ice fills an extensive 
valley of immense depth, surrounded by snowy peaks, 
whose avalanches furnish the supply, and which finds 
its outlet into the vale of Chamouni through two 
extensive glaciers, the "Du bois," and the " Bossons." 
The Averon, a considerable stream, rushes out of the 
glacier Du bois, forming a beautiful cascade, which 
we see from our hotel window. 

Having fully examined this dreary frozen sea, 
climbed some of the ice hills, and looked down 



DILIGENCE. 207 

into the deep blue fissures, which are every- 
where seen through it, we returned to Chamouni 
and when half way down the mountain, left the rain 
behind us, and saw the beautiful green valley gilded 
with the rays of the setting sun. 

The next morning we took the diligence to Geneva, 
on Lake Leman, in company with twenty-five pas- 
sengers. These diligences are singular institutions. 
The body of the coach is divided into three com- 
partments, each containing from three to six persons. 
The Coupee or forward division is dearest and is 
considered the most eligible, as the passenger can, 
from thence look through the glass windows of the 
front, at the scenery, 

The second story is one long apartment filled with 
benches, and is enclosed and protected by curtains. 
Here second class passengers are carried at lower 
rates. ~ Six horses usually drag the vehicle, and, 
unless ascending mountains, they go at a round 
pace. 

We observed a curious phenomenon as we de- 
scended the valley. The fog which arose and was 
condensed upon the mountain sides, was converted 
into frost at an elevation of about one thousand 
feet, in a belt about one hundred feet in width ; 



208 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

above and below, the mountain was green, while 
tills belt was white as snow, forming a beautiful 
illustration of the frost formation ; above that line it 
was too cold, and below too warm, for frost spangles 
to be formed. 



CHAPTER XXI. 

Geneva — Calvin — St. Peter's — Champ de Bourreau — Martyrdom 
of Servetus — Lake Leman — Arve — Lausanne — Ferney — Cla- 
rens — Castle of Chillon — Dungeons — The Oubliette — Ladies 
chamber — Romantic conclusions destroyed — Villeneuve — No- 
vel mode of trout fishing. 

I write from Geneva, this beautiful and interesting 
city, sacred as the sp ot where Michael Servetus suf- 
fered m artyrdoru at the hands of Calvin, for holding, 
as history says, " anti-trinitarian doctrines, which, 
however, he did not attempt to disseminate" 

We are stopping under the very shadow of St. 
Peter's, the church in which Calvin preached for 
twenty-three years. It crowns the highest point 
and is the first object which strikes the traveler 
on approaching the city. Its architecture is some- 
what quaint, though called Gothic, being part 
church and part castle, its turrets and battlements 
bristling up- like a fortress. In this respect it well 
represents the creed of one who deemed the church 
should wield the sword, and who, while he professed 

to follow the teachings of Him who proclaimed 

(209) 



210 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

■ • peace on earth, good will to men," yet could find it 
in his heart to condemn to a cruel death a brother 
reformer and man, who could see in the Holy 
Scriptures no warrant for the belief in a Triune 
God. 

The pulpit of St. Peter's became under Calvin the 
judgment-seat as well as the tribune, and, as Presi- 
dent of the Consistory, he ruled with a rod of iron 
over the opinions as well as the lives, and even the 
private affairs of the people, prescribing what 
breeches they should wear, and what dinners they 
should eat — as for example, " not more than five dishes 
shall be allowed for ten persons at dinner, and plush 
breeches are strictly forbidden to be worn."* 

However, it is hardly fair to judge the actions of 
that semi-barbarous age by the standard of to-day. 
The Swiss Republic had but just emerged from the 
iron sway of the Dukes of Savoy and the bishops of 
the Catholic church, under which they had groaned 
for ages, and like our own Pilgrim Fathers, they be- 
lieved that faith should be established by coercion. 
This stern policy, coupled with the natural influence 
of a false view of the Divine economy, induced 
atrocities at which the more enlightened Christianity 

* Extract from the sumptuary laws enacted and enforced by Calvin at Geneva' 



CHAMP DE BOURREATT. 211 

of the nineteenth century shudders. This should 
teach all Christians to expunge from their creeds 
and their practice everything which savors in the 
least of that foul blot upon their bridal garment, 
"persecution for opinion's sake." 

From our examination of this interesting church, 
we drove to the Champ de Bourreau, or field of ex- 
ecution, where, under the eye, and by the orders of 
Calvin, that noble martyr, Servetus, died giving 
testimony to his convictions of the truth. The 
march of improvement has well-nigh obliterated the 
spot where this christian hero fell. The field of 
blood is being rapidly dug away, and in a few more 
years the christian traveler will search for it in vain. 
Would it not be a peculiarly appropriate movement 
of the liberal churches in England and America, 
to unite in placing here a fitting memorial ? While 
those, who, we believe possess a lower faith than our 
own are canonizing their saints, and building splendid 
churches to their memory, here the great martyr of 
the Reformation is without a stone to mark the 
place of his Christ-like end. * * * * * * * 
It was with a feeling of deep sadness that we 
plucked a flower which seemed to be doing its best, 
humble though it was, to consecrate the spot, 



212 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

and turned away, thinking that the next pilgrim 
to this sacred shrine might not even find a weed 
to bear away as a memento of the martyrdom of 
Servetus. 

The Genevese are by no means proud of having 
burned Servetus, and would ignore it if they could, 
as the Jews would the crucifixion. The spot where 
he died must be very familiar to the inhabitants, who 
are chiefly Protestants ; even the children can hardly 
fail to know it ; yet we asked a number whom we 
met, before we obtained information, and our inde- 
fatigable Paul (himself a staunch Protestant, al- 
though a Frenchman,) finally found it only by 
inquiring for the Champ de Bourreau, and saying 
nothing of Servetus. 

Our hotel overlooks this interesting Lake Leman, 
or Lake Geneva — the Lemanus of the Romans. It is 
an enlargement of the river Rhone, similar to Lake 
Pepin, on the Mississippi, though much more beauti- 
ful. The river enters it at the northern or north- 
eastern end, and leaves it at the southern ; 

"Here the Rhone had spread himself a couch," 

in a deep valley between the Jura and the Alpine 
chains, crescent shaped, and about fifty-five miles 



LAKE LEMAN. 218 

long by five to eight in width, and in some places a 
thousand feet in depth. Its waters are of a more 
beautiful blue than I have seen elsewhere, save in 
the Mediterranean, near Naples, except when some 
straggling ray of sunlight, breaking through clouds, 
throws the reflection of the green mountain slopes 
upon its glassy surface, when it assumes the most 
beautiful emerald. The Rhone leaves the lake pure 
and clear as the Alpine snow from which it springs, 
and blue as the heavens which are mirrored in its 
swift waters; but ere it has run a mile of its glorious 
career, it receives the turbulent and muddy Arve, to 
its embrace, and though scorning for a time the un- 
natural companionship, is overcome at last, and its 
purity lost forever. Thus evil associations corrupt 
the purest natures. 

The western shores of Lake Leman slope gently 
and green from the distant Jura, clothed along its 
whole extent with fruitful vineyards, beautiful villas, 
and bright looking; villages and towns, while occa- 
sionally an old feudal castle crowns the hights. On 
the opposite shore the spurs of the Alpine chain ap- 
proach nearer the water, and being less favorable for 
the vine it is not so densely populated. Along this 
western shore lie many interesting spots : Lausanne, 



214 



the residence of Gibbon, and where lie finished his 
history of Rome; Ferney, the residence of Voltaire; 
Clarens, " the birthplace of deep love," where Ros- 
seau lived, and where he located his Bosquet de Julie. 

"Clarens ! by heavenly feet thy paths are trod — 
Undying Love's, who here ascends a throne 
To which the steps are mountains." 



Opposite lie the rocks of Meillerie, and above lies 
the Castle of Chillon, immortalized by the genius of 
Byron. From Yevay we drove up to Chillon, about 
six miles. It stands upon a rocky point, an island 
when the moat now dry, which separates it from the 
mainland was filled with water, and was, in ancient 
times, entered by a drawbridge, with port cullis, &c. 
Its turrets and castellated ramparts covered with 
ivy, present a very romantic appearance, seen from 
the road as we approach. It is now used for a gov- 
ernment depot of cannon, and is a fine specimen of 
a feudal castle of the olden time. We descended 
from our carriage, and " summoning the ancient 
warder/' who guards the stores of sentimental as 
well as military wealth which the place contains, the 
massive gates were at once unbarred, a few francs 
being " the countersign and pass-word '' which un- 



DUNGEONS. 215 

lock these strongholds to the prying eyes of the 
modern tourist. 

Through the frowning battlements which guard 
the portal, he led us down into the dungeons " deep 
and old," and among the " seven columns massy 
and gray," in one of which is still shown the ring to 
which the " Prisoner of Chillon," poor Bonnivard, 
was chained. All around the foot of the column, 
for a circle of three or four feet, the pavement is 
worn by his seven weary years of pacing to and fro. 
The seeds, however, which he planted, at length 
germinated, and sprang into glorious fruit in the 
liberty of Switzerland ; and the first act of the vic- 
torious republicans was to drive the minions of the 
Duke of Savoy from the Castle of Chillon, and set 
the captive free. 

" May none those marks efface, 
For they appeal from tyranny to God." 

The little isle, with its three trees, still is pointed 
out through the loopholes of the walls, and upon a 
column, amongst a thousand " John Smiths " and 
" Marcus Aurelius Fitz Jenkins," that of Byron, cut 
by his own hand, in the soft sandstone of which the 
columns are composed, is plainly visible. We also 
saw the names of J. Fennimore Cooper, Dickens, &c. 



216 [notes drawn at sight. 

The old beam, or Potence, is also shown in this dun- 
geon where the condemned were hung, and in the 
Hall of Justice (!) above, a trap-door was pointed 
out leading down into the " cachot," or " oubliette," 
a dark pit some twenty feet in depth, the bottom of 
which was covered with sharp spears and knives. 
Three steps from the top terminate in a precipice, and 
the condemned, under the delusive hope that he was to 
be set free, passed down these steps and was impaled 
upon the knives below. These were, some of the 
fiendish cruelties of the middle ages. 

Leaving these gloomy dungeons, we wandered 
through the strange old rooms above. There was 
the kitchen, with its capacious fireplace, where, on 
festive occasions, the ox might be roasted whole. 
The dining- hall, its walls covered with the coats of 
arms of the Dukes of Savoy, to whom this castle 
formerly belonged, and its ceiling crossed by huge 
old oaken beams blackened with age, bringing strong- 
ly to mind the days when mail-clad warriors were 
here entertained with wassail and song — the guests 
seated above or below the salt, according to degree, 
or the favor of the host. We thought of the old 
baronial castles of England while looking at the 
huge fireplaces, and of the " Yule log," which, at 



LADIES CHAMBER. 217 

Christmas time dispensed its generous warmth, while 
upon the walls the mistletoe hung, 

" And the baron's retainers, blithe and gay, 
Were keeping their Christmas holiday." 

Oar loquacious guide pointed out the ladies' cham- 
ber in one of the " turrets high," whose windows 
command a fine view of the lake and the opposite 
rocks of Meillerie, with the Rhone flowing from the 
distant alps. 

"Ah," exclaimed Harry, who has a spice of the 
romantic in his temperament, leaning out of one of the 
windows and surveying the beautiful prospect — 
" doubtless many a < faire ladye ' has gazed out of this 
window, long and wistfully, for the return of a fond 
husband, or devoted lover, who was absent and ex- 
posed to all the dangers of those rude times, when war 
was the employment of the people, and life a constant 
terror. Or, perhaps some noble dame, scorning the 
accident of birth, may have waved encouragement from 
this spot to her brave, though low-born lover, as he 
floated carelessly by the castle walls, in the fond 
hope of beholding his mistress, and receiving from 
her fair hand some token of recognition, or requitted 
love, dropped into his boat beneath ; knowing full 

well, that if discovered, those gloomy dungeons below 
19 



218 NOTES DKAWN AT SIGHT. 

would be the least punishment, if he were not made 
to descend at once those fatal steps in the Hall of 
Justice, from whence no human being ever ascended." 

" Stuff," exclaimed Mentor, who dislikes sickly 
sentimentality, and whose taste for that sort of ro- 
mance has passed, " all stuff! Any sensible lady of 
the olden time would have been nicely set to work 
gazing out of these windows upon a lazy lout of a 
base born peasant who chanced to paddle this way in 
his canoe: and to think, too, of her dropping her 
handkercheif or glove or other article of wearing 
apparel into his boat from this hight ! what non- 
sense ! Besides, Murray says nothing of any such 
event ; (Mentor always travels fortified with Mur- 
ray,) had it ever occurred he would have it. 

" More likely, if any prying fellow ever came 
peering round at these windows it was ibr the lady's 
maid ; and he must have got slops thrown in his face 
too, as it is much more evident the window was used 
for that purpose than for any other," (pointing to the 
stains in the walls hard by). This sally knocked 
over the poetical castle which the juvenile Harry had 
reared, and we all left Chillon under serious histori- 
cal doubts. 

The depth of this lake is very remarkable ; it is 



TROUT FISHING. 219 

said to be eight hundred feet immediately at the base 
of the castle walls. 

" Lake Leman lies by Chillon's walls, 
A thousand feet in depth below." 

Opposite Chillon lies Villeneuve, at the mouth of 
the Rhone. 

Here in the clear brooks, the affluents of this river, 
a curious mode is adopted for taking the mountain 
trout with which these streams are thickly populated. 

The fisherman goes after dark armed with a lan- 
thorn made of horn, scraped thin and pressed into a 
bulb-like form, having a long tube, with which it is 
held, and which supplies air to the flame within. A 
haversack is thrown across the shoulders, and in his 
right hand he carries either a baton- au-fer, (a stick 
shod with iron) or a lance-like dagger. Thus equip- 
ped, he wades into the transparent and icy flood to 
the depth of three or four feet, immerses his lanthorn 
in the swift torrent, keeping the tube end up. The 
light reflects through the clear water to a great dis- 
tance, illuminating every pebble, and the dazzled 
fish are attracted irresistably towards it, and come 
butting their heads against the horn, as moths around 
a globe lamp. Gently the cautious fisherman raises 



220 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

the light, the fish follow, and when near the surface, 
the finest being selected, he is struck with the mace, 
or speared with the dagger; and having received his 
coup de grace, is deposited in the haversack ; this is 
repeated until enough are thus obtained, or the hav- 
ersack is filled. With the recollection of a recent 
attempt at trouting in these icy streams fresh in our 
memory, and the frequent rheumatic twinges caused 
thereby, we did not feel inclined to test this new 
method of outwitting the wily trout, and, therefore, 
simply record it for the benefit of those who may 
wish to try the experiment. It may be proper to 
state, however, that Antoine, the fisherman, has 
strong indications of a swelling of the thyroid gland, 
and that his brother, who held the honorable position 
before him of Pecheur to the hotel at Villeneuve, 
died of goitre, a twelvemonth since. 



CHAPTER XXII. 

Freyburg — The longest suspension bridge in the world — Musi- 
cal storm — The liberty tree — Berne — Its bears — Clock — Min- 
ster — Libel on bruin — The patron saint of the Queen City — 
Bernese ladies — Federal house — Freiheit — Interlachen — 
Lauterbrunen — Staubach fall — Grinden wald — Glacier — Av- 
alanche — Alpine horn — Beggars and flowers — Sunset in the 
mountains. 

Having sent Benyamino forward from Martigny 
with our baggage to await us at Vevay, we found 
him there on our arrival. We had engaged him for 
the trip through Switzerland, and we only regret 
that there is not some land route to America through 
Behring's Straits, as we have not a doubt he would 
at once contract for the journey; whereby we would 
escape the dreaded sea voyage home, and our coun- 
try gain an excellent citizen and coachman in Benya- 
mino the Vetturino. Our Alabama friends again 
joined us at Vevay, and we proceeded together to 
Lucerne to which point we had engaged the Yet- 
tura. Our route lay through the ancient city of 

Freyburg, (Canton, Freyburg,) lying on the Saarine 

(221) 



222 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

river, which winds around the eitj in a very pictu- 
resque manner, and is spanned by a very substantial 
and beautiful wire bridge 941 feet long between the 
piers, and 181 feet above the water beneath, said to 
be the longest single span in the world. I do not 
now recollect the span of our Niagara suspension 
bridge, but this is certainly the longest in Europe, 
and 361 feet longer than the celebrated bridge over 
the Menai Straits in Wales, It is built much lighter 
than usual, yet seems very firm, and has been in use 
about twenty years. This span must be nearly or 
quite equal to the projected bridge across the Ohio, 
at Cincinnati. There is another wire bridge thrown 
across a gorge near the city, of 640 feet span, re- 
markable from the fact that the cables are attached 
directly to the face of the rocky precipices on each 
side, and the point of suspension on one side being 
higher than the other, it has the appearance of half 
a bridge ; the object of thus attaching the cables be- 
ing to save the expense of building piers. 

But the great attraction and curiosity at Freyburg 
apart from its quaint old architecture, its feudal 
wails, watch towers and ancient gates, all of which 
are in good preservation, is the great organ, by all 
accounts the finest in Europe. It was built by 



MUSICAL STORM, 223 

Moser, and presented to the church — a princely gift. 
It stands in the cathedral, the principal church of 
the city, which has nothing else remarkable or inter- 
esting about it, if -we except a curious bas relief in 
sandstone, over the entrance, representing an angel 
weighing mankind in a pair of scales, by lots at once, 
while a pair of imps are maliciously trying to pull 
down one of the scales and make the other kick the 
beam. Below is St. Peter ushering the good into 
Paradise, while a devil, represented with a pig's 
head, and a basket on his back filled with young 
sinners, is dragging a score or so, attached to a chain, 
toward a vast cauldron suspended over a fire, which 
some imps are stirring. Hell is represented in a 
corner, by the jaws of a monster filled up to the teeth 
with victims, and above it old Satan sits enthroned. 
Such conceptions suit the preacher better than the 
artist, and we could hardly help laughing outright 
at this grotesque representation of the " Last Judg- 
ment." 

We confess we have never heard the perfection of 
music before. On entering the building and taking 
a seat as far off from the organ as possible, we saw 
the huge structure, with its 7,800 silvered pipes, and 
sixty four stops, filling one whole end of the church 



224 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

in the gallery opposite, looking, with its shining 
pipes, like the huge glaciers we had been admiring 
amongst the mountains the past week. Suddenly 
an avalanche of music was let loose upon us, if I may 
so express it, for I can liken it to nothing less, so 
overpowering and so stunning was its effect. In- 
deed, it ceased to be music confined within those 
narrow walls, but seemed the combination of all 
earthly sounds, into one roar, which shook the build- 
ing to its base. We felt disappointed, as the effect 
was any thing but musical or agreeable. But this 
was only to show the immense power of the instru- 
ment, for then, from that great musical glacier, 
flowed gentle rills of sound, the sweetest strains, 
surely, that human ears ever drank. We heard 
the Aeolian harp, the softest notes of the flute, the 
clearest and faintest Alpine echoes, all imitated, and 
the most perfect resemblance of the vespers chanted 
by female voices, dying away upon the hushed air, 
and again swelling into harmony, until we could 
hardly believe our senses that all this was created by 
an instrument, such was its resemblance to the hu- 
man voice. 

After a number of exquisite pieces — such music as 
we never expect to hear again this side of bliss — 



MUSICAL STORM. 225 

and which we fear has ruined our ears for all organ 
music hereafter — -the performance closed with a storm 
from Der Freyschutz. It had been raining all 
the fore part of the day, but had cleared just before 
we entered the church, and so complete was the re- 
presentation of the roaring and sighing of the wind, 
the dashing of the rain, and rushing of the storm, 
that we thought a fortunate coincidence had occur- 
red, and that the rain had commenced again just at 
that moment, and we felt really surprised to find the 
streets dry when we came out. The effect was won- 
derful. The demons of the storm seemed to shriek 
through the air, the thunder roared and echoed 
through the distant mountains, and we were fully 
impressed that that piece of music executed in the 
open air, of a cloudy day, with a little patent light- 
ning, would deluge the country with rain at once. 
Espy's ineffectual fires would pale before such an 
appeal to the Grod of storms as this instrument is 
capable of making, and we respectfully suggest to 
him to leave his " theories" and come to Freyburg, 
and try the effect of music. After the performance 
we ascended the organ loft to examine the instrument 
and behold the very modest looking little man who 

had made such a terrible uproar of the elements, and 
20 



226 NOTES DRAWE AT BIGHT. 

we confess to a little curiosity also, to see if it could 
possibly be all done with an organ. 

We found, however, nothing to justify a doubt, 
and we left unanimously agreeing that next to the 
Alps this organ was the most wonderful thing in 
Switzerland. 

The Freyburgois have their liberty tree, a lime 
•now near 400 years old, and preserved with religious 
care, growing in the center of the town, its branches 
protected and supported by granite posts. It is 
said to have been planted in commemoration of the 
battle of Morat, in 1476. A young soldier anxious to 
bring the good news, ran all the way, and exhausted 
by fatigue, fell crying victory I victory ! and expired. 
The branch of lime which he carried in his hand was 
planted on the spot, and grew to this tree. The tra- 
dition is interesting, whether true or not, and the tree 
a fine old spreading patriarch. Crossing the Saarine, 
upon its wire bridge in view of the old fashioned 
structures, and decaying mills, which line its banks, 
and through a beautiful rolling country, the garden 
of Switzerland, some twenty miles, we arrived at 
Berne, upon the Aar, the capitol of the Swiss can- 
tons, and entered the city between two huge stone 
bears, the national emblem of the Bernese, which 



BERNE. 227 

sit very composedly upon their haunches, guarding 
the fortified gates. We located ourselves in a 
comfortable hotel, and immediately sallied out to do 
up Berne in the short afternoon at our disposal. In 
many of the streets the houses are built over the 
pavement, on arches, such as we had seen in some 
of the towns of Italy ; but the arches are low and 
give the houses a prison-like and gloomy appearance. 
Passing a clock tower, built upon an arch project- 
ing over the street, we stopped a moment to adjust 
our chronometer. The face of the clock was orna- 
mented with figures in bas relief, and while observ- 
ing them a cock suddenly appeared, flapped his 
wings and crowed thrice, and then retired ; a proces- 
sion of bears marched around a platform, a grotesque 
figure hammered out the hours lustily upon two bells 
above ; while old Time in the fore ground reversed 
his hour-glass, which he held in his right hand, and 
yawned wearily at each stroke of the bell as if tired 
of this automaton play. Hard by upon a pedestal 
surmounting a fountain, is a highly colored Pulcinello, 
with his arms full of naked and terrified babies, one 
of which he is devouring — the head being already 
between his two rows of conspicuous grinders, an 
effectual scare-crow, without doubt, to all the young 



228 NOTES DKAWN AT SIGHT. 

cuhs of Berne, though of rather questionable propri- 
ety. Every where the image of old Bruin adorns 
the shops and public places, and four fellows in bronze, 
with feet marvellously resembling a Virginia Negro's, 
and at which they seem to be laughing, are sitting 
around the equestrian statue of Rudolph, the old 
Knight of Berne, which stands in the square in front 
of the great Cathedral. This Cathedral or Minster, 
is an imposing structure, and like that at Freyburg, 
also warns sinful man of his future state in an elabo- 
rate bas relief in stone over the main entrance, 
illustrating hell and its terrors. It differs, however, 
from the former in representing Belzebub as Bruin, 
instead of a hog, being, we suppose, more in confor- 
mity with the Bernese idea. 

The Swiss have taken a decided liberty both at 
Freyburg and Berne, with these respectable quadru- 
peds. For ourself we have always entertained the 
most profound respect for Bruin's nice discrimina- 
tion between right and wrong ever since we read in 
our juvenile days, with fear and trembling, of his 
devouring those rude urchins who harrassed poor old 
bald Elijah ; and we can not consent to hand him 

over to the D 1 without a word in his behalf. 

And as to the the great municipal emblem of the 



LIBEL ON BRUIN. 229 

Queen City of the West, this placing the head of her 
patron saint upon the shoulders of satan, is an insult 
not to be tolerated for a moment. The whole his- 
tory of the grunter gives the lie to any such associ- 
ation. He is the only animal on record who on the 
first approach of Satan, was so shocked as to commit 
suicide, by leaping into the sea. 

The meekness and patience too, with which he 
submits to his annual martyrdom and conversion into 
ham and long middles without a murmur, should 
have protected him against such slander. Leave 
such vile libels to the Turks ! — the Jews ! — but scorn 
them ye Christian Swiss. 

These Bernese dames seem to spend a great deal 
of time at the windows, which are cushioned for the 
convenience of leaning out. This is a singular cus- 
tom ; and in the afternoons, the streets present the 
appearance of a gallery of living portraits, their 
unique costume having a very happy effect. We 
think it a decided improvement on some of the 
chalky counterfeits which we have seen in the galleries 
of late. We were inclined to resent the introduction 
of a spittoon, filled with saw-dust, into our parlor, as 
a reflection on our American habits, but, on inquiry, 
found the custom general. The -federal house just 



230 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

finished, for the meetings of the Swiss Diet, is a 
very chaste and beautiful building, of gray sand- 
stone. -It is very Swiss in its appearance, though 
partly of the Byzantine order of architecture. It 
stands on an eminence overlooking a fine valley, 
and having a distant view of the Bernese Alps. The 
Diet was in session, but we could not find time to wit- 
ness the proceedings. Switzerland seems to be the 
Hymettus of Europe. Honey abounds and is a sta- 
ple article at each meal. We have seen, for the 
first time in our life, in passing through this coun- 
try, the old fashioned bee-hive, made of plaited straw, 
such as we see in pictures. In leaving Berne we 
passed at the edge of the town, a stone walled pit, 
containing four huge live bears; how many more 
were in the cages we could not see. They seem to 
be kept simply for curiosity, and to preserve the 
national emblem alive. From Berne we proceeded 
to Thun, on a pretty lake of the same name. This is 
a remarkably picturesque town ; the river Aar rushes 
through it from the lake pure as crystal, and the 
very antiquated castle of the Counts of Kyburg, of 
the fourteenth century, forms a conspicuous object on 
approaching it. German is the prevailing language 
throughout the Canton Berne. We had mastered but 



INTERLACHEN. 231 

one word, Freiheit, (Liberty) before we left home, 
bat we find it a potent one unlocking the Swiss 
heart at once ; Freiheit being the magic Shibo- 
leth of Switzerland. We reached Interlachen which 
is by far the most beautiful valley we have yet sean 
amongst the Alps. It has a number of fine hotels, 
thronged with English ; is green as a carpet, and 
fruitful in all vegetation, while the Jungfrau, 
clothed in her pure and inaccessible snows, lies ap- 
parently very near, though some ten or twelve miles 
distant. The great wrestling matches and games 
of this canton, when the Bernese try their strength 
with the hardy mountaineers, take place here in 
commemoration of the reconciliation of Count Ru- 
dolph and Burkard. The former having stolen Ida, 
the daughter of the latter, and taken her in marriage, 
a long and bloody war ensued, and on the reconcili- 
ation these games were instituted by the old Baron, 
and have ever since been continued. They have 
been described by Madame de StaeL 

The castle of Unspunnen, the residence of Bur- 
kard, was the scene of Byron's tragedy of Manfred. 
We went to Lauterbrunen, a two hours' ride, nearly 
to the foot of the Virgin Jungfrau, through one of the 
wildest valleys we have ever seen. We passed along 



232 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

the Lutschine river, under precipices 2,000 feet in 
Light, in view of waterfalls coursing their way down 
the mountain-sides, like threads of silver, and forming 
cascades of every conceivable shape white as the 
snow from which they descend. The "Staubach" how- 
ever, so far exceeds all the rest as to leave them 
scarcely worth a notice. This is truly as Words- 
worth calls it, a " Heaven-born waterfall." It comes 
leaping over a perpendicular cliff nine hundred feet 
in hight; the torrent is a considerable one, but 
the descent is so great that before it reaches the 
bottom it is mere mist, and waved about by the wind, 
looks like the giant courser's tail referred to by By- 
ron. The water shoots off in gouts, which seem to 
burst as they fall, looking like smoking rocket-sticks 
falling to the earth. It is one of the most interesting 
falls we have ever seen. 

"It is not noon — the sunbow's rays still arch 
The torrent with the many hues of heaven, 
And roll the sheeted silver's waving column 
O'er the crags headlong perpendicular, 
And fling its lines of foaming light along, 
And to and fro, like the pale courser's tail, 
The giant steed to be bestrode by Death, 
As told in the Apocalypse." 



GLACIEUS. 233 

The five days steady rain which had fallen among 
these mountains, had covered the peaks with fresh 
snow, and filled the streams, so that every cascade 
was doing its best. From Lauterbrunen we wound 
through these wild gorges to Grindenwald — -a cul de 
sac among the snowy peaks, from whence there is no 
outlet, save to return or scale the mountains. Two 
fine glaciers come down from between the Eighen, or 
Giant, the Schreckhorn and the Wetterhorn, or peak 
of tempests, the outlets from the great sea of ice of 
the Bernese Alps, cooling the air ; and as the moun- 
tains rise up enclosing the valley like a wall, the 
sun is visible but a few hours in the day. The at- 
mosphere is, therefore, damp and cool, and Goitre 
and Cretinism prevail to a great extent. From the 
foot of the larger of these glaciers, one of the heads 
of the Lutschine rushes out, in size nearly or quite 
equal to the Little Miami river in summer. We 
ventured into the blue ice caves, hollowed out by the 
action of the sun and water, their beautiful azure 
color strongly reminding us of the blue grotto near 
Naples. We ascended by the aid of steps cut in the 
ice, some distance on the huge mass, but found the 
air so chilly after our mountain climb that we soon 
hurried back to a more genial footing. These peaks 



234 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

assume some singular shapes, some a perfect castle 
with turrets, &c, and a group of five barren points, 
resembles, when seen from a certain angle, the hu- 
man hand, with fingers and thumb held aloft. While 
admiring these singular formations, a cannon was 
suddenly fired, sending its multiplied echoes far away 
among the peaks. Begardez! Regardez! exclaimed 
our guide. We did regard in the direction he point- 
ed, but could see nothing till again taking the bear- 
ings indicated by his extended digit, we saw a fine 
thread of white descending the mountain side, which 
we thought was the mist of a waterfall, accompanied 
with a report like the distant reverberation of the 
cannon. It soon passed away, however, into the 
valley below, and then we understood that we had 
beheld a veritable avalanche. The clear atmosphere 
of these mountains and their great hight render dis- 
tances entirely unappreciable, and what we thought 
a slight thread — a waterfall, may have been hun- 
dreds of tons of ice — sufficient to destroy hamlets 
and villages, if they should happen to lie in the 
path. On our return, we heard the Alpine horn 
played by a lad; and as its clarion tones rang and 
echoed against a cliff, opposite which, with an eye 



ALPINE HORN. 235 

and an ear to the finest effect, lie had stationed him- 
self, we thought with General Butler that surely, 

" Never did the list'ning air, 
Upon its lambent bosom bear 
So wild, so soft, so sweet a strain." 

This Alpine horn is a very homely long wooden 
pipe, horn-shaped, and utterly beyond our musical 
skill to bring out even a discordant note upon it. 
The concert, with avalanche accompaniment, cost 
just one franc (twenty cents) for our party of five. 
Cheap enough, in all conscience, and we suggest to 
some of the enterprising speculators in musical nov- 
elties for the American market, the importation of a 
first class entertainment of this character, avalanche 
and all, the enterprise no doubt would pay. The chil- 
dren of Grindenwald are inveterate beggars, but their 
manner is peculiar ; they beg with one hand and hand 
you flowers with the other. We stood it for some time, 
having become case-hardened in Italy; but suddenly 
a group of sweet child-like faces, singing the Rans 
des Vaches, and offering flowers, overcame our ladies 
and they surrendered at discretion, distributing small 
coins and making any number of little hearts happy. 
A pretty, blue-eyed boy, under the employ of the 



236 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

coachman, who had faithfully blocked our wheels, 
with a three cornered mallet used for this purpose in 
ascending the mountain, observing, with the quick 
eye of childhood, this avenue to the hearts and 
purses of the ladies, laid in wait for us on our return, 
presenting two beautiful bouquets which the little 
fellow had gathered and put together with much 
taste, tying them with grass. This appeal to be re- 
membered was irresistable, and the merry laugh of 
the little. Cupid rang through the forest, as he ran 
away with his cup full of coins, exulting in the suc- 
cess of his first attempt to come the sentimental 
over the softer sex* 

The sun was setting as we descended the last hill 
into the valley of Interlachen, tinging with his 
golden radiance the virgin head of the Jungfrau, who 
seemed to draw aside for a moment her evening robe 
of clouds, to bestow a parting smile upon the rosy 
god ere she retired for the night. 



CHAPTER XXIII. 

Lakes Thun and Brienz — Alpine Village — Lucerne — Chapel of 
William Tell— Grutli— The Fountain Head of Liberty— Kuss- 
nacht — Rigi — Charivari — Drowning the Music — The Water- 
spout — Fair Zurich's Waters — The fall of the Rossberg — The 
Specter of the Rigi — Robbery — Monument to Swiss Guards — - 
Benyamino's Adieu — Ex-President Fillmore — Heidelberg Cas- 
tle — Elizabeth Stewart — Millenium — Olympia Morata — En- 
chantress Jeta — Baden Baden — Frankfort — Rothschilds- 
Statue of Ariadne. 

There is not a more charming place in Switzerland, 
to spend the warm summer months, than Interlachen. 
It lies between the two lakes of Thun and Brienz, 
and hence its name, meaning between the lakes, 
and their bright waters meeting in this lovely valley 
have here created a spot unsurpassed, if equalled 
elsewhere in Europe. 

Vegetation is rapid and luxuriant, and lying at a 
moderate elevation above the sea, (about eighteen 
hundred feet) and surrounded by snowy Alps, the 
heat is at all times tempered by cool winds, and the 
eye cheered by the view of the distant snow. 

(237) 



238 [notes drawn at sight. 

The beauty of the spot and the romantic associa- 
tions connected with it, have made it for along time 
the favorite resort of the English, and, therefore, 
the hotels and the customs and manners of the place 
are more agreeable to Americans, than any other in 
Switzerland. In the hotels and shops, indeed, Eng- 
lish is the universal language spoken. A great many 
interesting and grand excursions can be made from 
here amongst the neighboring mountains and the 
" Yung frau," the " Wengern," " Faulhorn," "Wet- 
terhorn," and a dozen other high peaks may be 
scaled, or attempted, by the ambitious tourist, who 
has strength and francs to invest in the enter- 
prise. 

From Interlachen, we went to Lake Lucerne, upon 
whose shores was the home of William Tell. We 
passed through highly cultivated valleys, with hand- 
some Swiss cottages, adorning the hill sides. These 
Alpine valleys are singularly fruitful, and no where 
in Europe is vegetation so luxuriant throughout the 
summer. The atmosphere is constantly condensing 
into rain-clouds, against the chilly mountain sides, 
and floating off, sprinkles the fertilizing drops upon 
the fields below, keeping them always moist and 
green ; while the sun, as if to make amends for his 



LUCERNE. 239 

brief sojourn here, sends clown his heat with in- 
creased power, ripening the crops rapidly, and insur- 
ing always an abundant harvest. * * * * As 
Interlachen is the loveliest of valleys^ so is Lu- 
cerne the most beautiful of lakes. It lies in the form 
of a cross-— the Swiss union emblem. The lower 
end, or foot, at which the town of Lucerne is situated, 
has gently sloping shores, covered with villas and 
farms ; while at a short distance back, Mount Pilate, 
and the Kigi, stand as giant sentinels, guarding the 
towns and villages which lie clustered around their 
feet. It is the upper, or eastern end, however, of 
Lake Lucerne, which gives it its character for wild 
beauty and grandeur unsurpassed in the world. Here 
vast mountains rising up to the region of eternal snow, 
enclose it on every side ; and precipices exhibiting 
some of the most singular formations we have ever 
seen, skirt its shores. The strata from a general 
direction of about forty-five degrees with the horizon, 
is in some places suddenly turned over, as it were, 
upon itself, and runs in all sorts of zig-zag lines as 
if imitating the lightning. These cliffs are evidently 
of volcanic origin ; yet, what must have been the 
immense power which shivered these mountains 
asunder, sinking this lake to the depth of a thousand 



240 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

or more feet, and twisting up the granite ribs of the 
earth as if they were mere straws ! 

Near one of these precipices stands the chapel of 
William Tell, marking the spot in the wild bay of -Uri 
where he leaped on shore from the boat of the tyrant 
Gessler. The scene of his shooting the apple from 
the head of his son, was at Altorf, a point farther up 
the bay and it was in passing from thence to the prison 
at Kussnacht, after that event that his escape and 
the subsequent death of the tyrant occurred. 

This is classic ground to an American, imbued with a 
love of Liberty, and our eyes dwelt upon these interest- 
ing shores, where Freedom was born, with a longing 
desire to see more of them than the rapid passage of 
the steamer permitted ; and to tread with our feet, 
upon that holy spot, Grutli, that little green shelf 
between inaccessable precipices, on the Bay of Uri, 
where those three noble heroes Werner, of Steinen ; 
Erni, of Melcthal, and Walter of Uri, five and a half 
centuries ago met in secret conspiracy, and took a sol- 
emn oath to unite and free their beloved country from 
the Austrian yoke, or die in the attempt, and at the 
same time bound themselves not to harm their op- 
pressors. The conduct of Tell in taking the life of 
Gessler, was in contravention of this humane line of 



WILLIAM TELL. 241 

policy, and it has always been looked upon by the 

Swiss as a stain upon the revolution, notwithstanding 

the great provocation which he had received. But 

the world has long since acknowledged the justice of 

the act, and deified William Tell, while tyrants 

have profited by the lesson, and have since dealt 

more gently with their subjects. No American should 

visit Europe without makiDg a pilgrimage to the 

chapel of William Tell and to Grutli. In addition 

to seeing the finest scenery in Europe, he can here 

drink at the fountain head of Liberty. Here let 

him come, and upon the spot where these hardy 

mountaineers first conceived and planned the union 

of the Swiss Cantons, for the purpose of throwing 

off the Austrian yoke, and pledged their " lives, their 

fortunes, and their sacred honor,'' to their firmly 

fixed purpose, of securing the liberty of Switzerland, 

let him also pledge himself anew to his own country. 

Let him resolve that on his return to his native land, 

he too, will, in his clay and generation, do what in 

him lies, to perpetuate the great blessings which he 

enjoys, in a republican government. 

The great mountain excursion from Lucerne, is the 

ascent of the Rigi, to sleep upon its summit, and 

see the sun rise (!) the ensuing morning. The moun- 
21 



242 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

tain is about a mile high above the plain, and from 
its top is enjoyed, if the weather prove favorable, the 
finest view in Europe. It is said that a circle of 
three hundred miles circumference can be seen at 
once — mountains and plains, lakes and rivers, lie 
spread around like a map, at one's feet. But it is 
no uncommon thing for the eager tourist to find him- 
self amongst the clouds at the top, or, as in our case, 
in the rain, and to find that he disburses roundly for 
that which satisfieth not. We ascended from the 
dirty little villiage of " iTwss-nacht" the place where 
Gessler designed to imprison Tell. It seems to have 
been the penal colony of that time, and which dis- 
tinctive characteristic its present inhabitants appear 
desirous to maintain. 

" Nine weary uphill miles we sped, 

The setting sun to see; 
Sulky and grim he went to bed, 

Sulky and grim went we. 
Seven sleepless hours we tossed, and then. 

The rising sun to see ; 
Sulky and grim we rose again, 

Sulky and grim rose he." 

Thus some witty Englishman describes his visit to the 
Rigi Culm, on the Traveler's Book. We had not, 



MOUNT RIGI. 243 

however, even the satisfaction of seeing the sun rise 
"sulky and grim." About the time that any sun 
having pretensions to early rising, should have been 
stretching himself, preparatory to putting his head 
out from under the blanket, we were saluted with a 
blowing of discordant horns and the ringing of cracked 
gongs, sounding very much like a charivari. We 
supposed at first there had been a wedding on the 
mountain top, and that the custom of the charivari 
prevailed here as in some parts of our own country. 
Springing from our bed, therefore, we threw open 
the casement, and demanded of the trumpeter the 
cause of this unwelcome serenade. He replied that 
it was a time honored custom of the Rigi Culm, to 
play upon these harmonious instruments about the 
time the sum ought to rise, for the purpose, as he 
said, of awakening the guests, and, said he, the 
guests are sure to rise if the sun does not . 

Having received this provoking excuse for being 
disturbed in our sleep, on a rainy, dark morning, 
before daylight, after the excessive fatigue we had 
undergone the day before in climbing this hill, we 
waxed wroth, and groping as well as we could in 
the gloom of our chamber, for the washstand, we 
seized the pitcher and threw its contents at the head 



244 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

of the trumpeter, as being of the two just at that 
moment the most annoying. 

The aim was well taken. The column fell plump 
upon his head, and drowned the " rans des vaches " 
which he was playing, in a deluge of water. 

It expired with a gurgling sound as of a drowning 
man, and then all was still again, save the pattering 
of the rain and the occasional muttering of the dis- 
tant thunder amongst the Alps. Having " put out " 
the music(!) we retired again to our bed, to obtain, if 
possible, a little more rest preparatory to facing the 
storm without, on our return to milder climes below. 

When we arose an hour or two later, we overheard 
the old trumpeter entertaining a gaping crowd of 
listeners, mostly English tourists, with a statement 
that he had called up the sun and the guests at the 
Kigi, man and boy, these thirty years, and in the 
arduous discharge of that duty, had faced many a 
storm upon the mountain height, but had never until 
that morning experienced a water-spout. His vivid 
description of the bursting of the cloud, and the 
cataract of water which deluged him, was fully at- 
tested to by the Gong, both believing it in their 
fright, and no doubt it willbe handed down to posterity 
as one of the numerous legends of the Rigi Culm. 



WATER-SPOUT* 245 

After a hearty breakfast, we had no alterative but 
to brave the storm and march down the hill again. 
On leaving, we shook our "bold trumpeter" cordially 
by the hand, (in which we slipped a few francs,) bid- 
ding him continue to cultivate his taste for early 
music, which we assured him we fully appreciated — 
and not to be frightened by one little water-spout. 

Here, as at Chamouni, when halfway down the 
mountain we emerged from the clouds and tempests 
which make the mountain top their home, and saw 
"fair Zurich's waters" sleeping quietly in the 
morning sunlight below. 

We passed in full view of the Rossberg mountain* 
a portion of which slid off, in 1806, and descended to 
the plain, burying entire the villages of Goldau, 
Bussingen and Rothen, and a part of Lowertz, des- 
troying four hundred and fifty lives and whole herds 
of cattle. Its scarred brow still marks the spot from 
whence the descending mass fell, and where these 
smiling villages stood, are now heaps of rocks and 
earth from fifty to eighty feet in depth. The "spectre 
of the Rigi," (which is simply the traveler's shadow, 
magnified upon the opposite mist,) did not salute 
us on our way down, though we thought our dripping 
locks and spectral looking faces, as we struggled 



246 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

through the rain, would have told well daguerreotyped 
upon clouds, Our delightful little promenade cost 
just sixty francs. 

On returning to Kussnacht, the landlord of the 
hotel "Pension du lac," from whom we had hired 
mules for the ascent, expressly stipulating for their 
use up only, as we preferred walking down, demanded 
back pay. We expostulated and resisted the demand, 
as we had walked back, but soon had the the whole 
village at our heels, with the burgomaster at the head 
and the women at the tail of the mob. They seized 
on our raiment and were about to part it amongst 
themselves, without even casting lots, when, seeing 
we were to be robbed of either money or goods, we 
handed out our purse, and whilst they quarrelled 
about the division of the ill-gotten gain, we escaped 
to the steamer and returned to Lucerne, determining 
if it were ever our good fortune to see the sun rise 
from the Rigi Culm, we should approach that cloud- 
capped height from some other direction than via 
Kussnacht. 

One of the most remarkable monuments in the 
world is to be seen at the little town of Lucerne. In 
the face of a bold sandstone cliff, a gigantic lion in 
strong bas 'relief, has been cut, represented as 



BENYAMINO'S ADIEU. 247 

wounded to death, with the broken spear in his side 9 
and endeavoring in his dying struggles to protect a 
shield bearing the fleur de Us of the Bourbons. It 
is erected, or rather sculptured, in memory of the 
Swiss Guards, who fell while defending the royal 
family of France, in one of the bloody massacres of 
the first French revolution. It is after a design of 
Thorwalsden, beautifully executed, and is upon the 
grounds of General Pfyffer. Its length is twenty- 
eight feet, and height eighteen, and, surrounded as 
it is by a frame of mantling ivy and fern, it presents 
one of the most unique and appropriate monuments 
in Europe. 

From Lucerne we turned our back upon the Alps, 
whose familiar peaks had become to us, dear as the 
faces of old friends, and at the same time we left our 
giant vetturino, Benyamino, who had driven us from 
Naples, as this was the end of his journey. As the 
poor fellow stood in the shadow of the Tomlishorn, 
on the quay at Lucerne, his giant bulk almost con- 
cealing the mountain from our view, he wiped a tear 
from his eye as we drove away, his true heart telling 
him that he had not always found such sympathizing 
friends as we, in his journey through life, nor such a 
liberal bestowal of the buono mano as now oiled his 



248 NOTES DKAWN AT SIGHT. 

palm. But visions of macaroni in his native land, 
for which he had sighed for the past few weeks flitted 
before him, and soon dispelled his grief, and as we 
turned the corner of the street near by, we saw that 
the brief cloud had passed, and that his eye was 
bent in the direction of sunny Italy again, where 
wife and children had been left behind. Benyamino 
prides himself on having driven ex-President Fillmore 
through Italy, and claims his brevet, as is usual in 
Europe, as " By royal permission, vetturino to his 
Excellenza, or Royal Highness, the ex-President of 
the United States of America, &c, &c," neverthe- 
less, for the quid pro quo, he is always ready to per- 
mit the plebians to occupy his royal coach, and 
under the circumstances, takes on very few airs in 
consequence of his good fortune in having secured so 
royal a personage as the ex-President of a realm 
larger than a dozen of some of the kingdoms of 
Europe. 

Farewell ! good Benyamino, may thy coach always 
run full, thy horses never get spavined, the railroads 
which thou dreadest so much, never invade thy native 
Italy, and may macaroni be showered upon thee in 
proportion to thy bulk. With these blessings thy 
cup will be full — thy happiness complete. 



HEIDELBERG CASTLE. 249 

On our way we visited Heidelberg Castle, at the 
city of Heidelberg, on the Neckar, a tributary of the 
Rhine. It is a very imposing ruin, in good preser- 
vation, and contains some fine specimens of the archi- 
tecture of the middle ages, as well as carvings, stat- 
uary, &c. One wing is called the English Palace, 
having been built by the Elector Frederick Y, after- 
wards King of Bohemia, for the reception of his 
bride, the Princess Elizabeth Stuart, grand-daughter 
of Mary Queen of Scots. It is said that when 
Frederick hesitated to accept the crown of Bohemia, 
which was offered him, this ambitious woman ex- 
claimed, " Let me rather eat dry bread at a king's 
table, than feast at the board of an elector," which 
wish literally came to pass. As if some avenging 
demon had taken her at her word, she had to eat dry 
bread, and to beg it too. The great butt is still 
preserved in the cellar, in which the wine was 
kept in the olden time. It contained eight hun- 
dred hogsheads, or near three hundred thousand 
bottles. 

Heidelberg has become distinguished for its stout 
defence of Protestantism, and the fredom of religious 
opinion under all circumstances. It was here at the 

church of St. Peter, Catholic, that Jerome of Prague, 

22 



250 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

the companion of Huss, attached to its front door his 
celebrated thesis which he maintained, and at the 
same time expounded the reformed doctrines to a 
large multitude in an adjoining churchyard. A 
curious feature exists here in their worship, which 
shows the character of the people. The Church of 
the Holy Ghost is divided through the center, the 
Catholics worshiping in one half, and the Protestants 
in the other, which they seem to have done in 
perfect harmony for more than a century. An effort 
was made in 1719—20 to deprive the Protestants of 
their rights in this church, but it did not succeed, 
although backed by the Elector himself, and in con- 
sequence of the failure of that attempt the Electoral 
Court was removed to Manheim. We confess on 
seeing the harmony of these incongruous elements, 
we thought of the possibility of the millenium, 
when the " Lion and the lamb shall lie down to- 
gether," a condition of things we had before thought 
altogether Utopian. 

In the Church of St. Peter, is the simple tomb of 
the beautiful and accomplished Italian lady, " Olimpia 
Morata," 1 believe of the Bologna School. She com- 
bined the grace and beauty of a woman with the 
intellect and learning of a philosopher. Adopting 



ENCHANTRESS JETTA. 251 

the doctrines of the reformation, she was persecuted 
as a heretic in her native land, and was forced to 
fly the country with her husband, a German. She 
came to Heidelberg, where she lectured for some 
time to large and admiring audiences, and found an 
early grave amongst sympathising strangers. Her 
learning, her beauty and her misfortunes, shed a 
peculiar interest over her tomb. 

The "Wolf's Brunnen," is a beautiful walk, or 
drive up a dark shady dell, between high mountains 
which shut out the sun, at the extreme end of which 
near the base of a hill, issues a fine spring. Here 
a princess of the Palatinate, or as another version 
goes, the enchantress "Jetta," was torn to pieces by 
a wolf, hence the name. This enchantress was said 
to have lived in this dell, and to have foretold the 
greatness of the house of the Palatinate. It seems 
her magic powers however, were powerless against 
a hungry wolf. 

Here are two ponds fed by the spring, literally 
alive with mountain or speckled trout, some of them 
very large, apparently four or five pounds in weight ; 
anything eatable thrown on the water, causes dozens 
of them instantly to dart up and seize it. 

Visitors are amused by a pretty modern "Jetta," the 



252 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

present enchantress of the place, who resides here, 
and dispenses excellent " lager." She displays her 
lions, the trout, by means of a few dead minnows from 
the brook below, with which she calls them to the 
surface. A hook quickly brings out one of these 
fellows, for a fine trout supper, which the young 
students who throng the renowned colleges of Heid- 
elberg near by, are fond of enjoying, when not en- 
gaged in their duels. 

From hence we rode to Baden Baden, where we 
drank of the hot-spring water, looked in at the 
gambling saloons, and resting for a night, went next 
morning to Frankfort on the Main, the great 
headquarters of the Jews in Europe. Here the 
Rothschilds began. We drove through the Jew's 
quarter, through heaps of old rags and rusty bits 
of iron, gathered in piles upon the side walks, the 
collection of the previous night, and along whole 
streets of old tumble-down houses of very quaint 
architecture. Amongst these we were shown the old 
Rothschild house, the chrysalis from whence emerged 
this celebrated family, and where the old lady ended 
her days, stoutly refusing all the efforts of her sons to 
induce her to remove from the old rickety homestead 
to a palace. 



STATUE OP ARIADNE. 253 

Frankfort is a free town, and the seat of the Ger- 
man diet, and enjoys a considerable trade. The new 
part of the town has some very rich and extensive 
villas and houses, built in modern style, while in the 
old portion is seen some of the most singular struc- 
tures in Europe. Tall gables, ornamented to the top, 
with grotesque figures, grinning from highly carved 
fronts of wood, line the street and sometimes over- 
hang it. The house in which Luther lived for a time 
at the corner of the Dom Platz, is pointed out, and 
the window from whence he preached every Sabbath 
is scrupulously preserved. 

Goethe was born in Frankfort, and a fine bronze 
statue of him, adorns the public square, the base 
being ornamented in bas relief, with subjects taken 
from his works. At the other end of the same 
square stands the statues of Gutenberg, Faust 
and Shaffer, the inventors of printing, also 
beautifully executed in bronze. The statue of 
Ariadne, by Dannacher, is the great work of art, 
however, of Frankfort, and it is very justly cele- 
brated. 

This city, like many other of the European cities, 
has beautiful promenades or boulevards surrounding 
it. In olden times they were all walled and the 



254 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

space occupied by wall, ditch and embankment, 
now that the cities have outgrown their ramparts, 
forms the beautiful promenades which everywhere 
abound. Thus providence is ever extracting good 
out of evil. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

Wiesbaden — The spring — Chicken soup — Bathing — Ktirsall — 
Lady gamblers — A novice — Roulette— Faro— 40,000 francs lost 
— Despair — Rhine — The boats — Rheingen — Johannisberg — 

; Markobrunner— Bromserburg C?stle— Gisela— Bingen— Bishop 
Hatto — Basket vineyards — Pfalz — Seven sisters in stone — 
Lurlei — An accident — Coblentz — Stolzenfels — Ehrenbreit- 
stein — Blue Moselle — French monument — Tables turned. 

After enjoying another visit to Dannacher's beau- 
tiful statue of Ariadne, represented as riding on a 
lioness, and which is the pride of Frankfort, we left 
by rail for Wiesbaden, the great watering place of 
Europe. 

Wiesbaden is the capitol of the Duchy of Nas- 
sau, and contains about 14,000 inhabitants, and like 
Baden Baden, is the great resort of that numerous 
class of pleasure seeking, fortune hunting, and en- 
nuied drones who swarm in Europe, as well as the 
really invalid who come here under the delusive 
hope of receiving benefit from these waters, their 
constitutions in most cases being already broken 

down by dissipation or disease. The spring which 

( 255 ) 



256 NOTES DKAWN AT SIGHT. 

was formerly without the village now occupies about 
the center of the town and is approached under long 
arcades or roofs, resting upon iron columns extend- 
ing through several streets leading from the princi- 
pal hotels, so that parties can approach it on foot in 
rainy weather without inconvenience. A fancy cast 
iron temple covers the spring, and several pretty 
girls are always in waiting with glasses to serve the 
beverage, to whom a penny or two is usually given. 
The water is taken up almost boiling hot and resem- 
bles in taste very nearly chicken broth. It is quite 
amusing to repair here about five or six o'clock in 
the morning (when the doctors say the invalids must 
drink their two or three glasses of the boiling liquid, 
taking a walk between each glass,) and see the grave 
and gay, the lively and severe — with glass in hand 
filled with the smoking fluid, walking up and down 
the long promenades cooling their broth and sipping 
health (as they hope) with wry faces. The spring 
is covered with a greasy scum marvellously like a 
stewpot, and the ebullition which is constantly going 
on bubbling up gas, adds still more to the resemblance. 
It would be pronounced chicken soup, without hesi- 
tation, were it not that it has existed from time im- 
memorial, and was known and visited by the Romans 



BATHING. 257 

before Christ. I am quite confident, however, that 
an onion or two with a little of the condiments ad- 
ded, would make it pass for excellent bouillon, quite 
equal to that with which our inner man was comforted 
throughout Italy. After breakfast the bathing be- 
gins, as the virtue of the water is not confined to 
drinking only, and according to our prudish notions 
is a rather indelicate operation, as males and females 
bathe in rooms divided only by a thin board parti- 
tion, a few feet in height, and all open at the top. 
You hear each other splashing about and every word 
that is spoken. But then it is all (they say here) in 
habit, and we presume it is, as they don't seem to 
mind it. The water flowing from the spring and 
baths, smokes in the gutters of the streets, and col- 
lected in ponds before it reaches the Rhine, serves 
as nurseries for enormous carp which here thrive 
and fatten in the ever warm temperature all the year 
round. The great feature of Wiesbaden — next to its 
springs, is the Kursall. This is at once banquet 
hall, reading room and gaming saloon. Here in the 
various large and richly furnished saloons, the Rou- 
lette, the Faro Bank and other honorable (!) gam- 
bling is carried on openly. The keeper, one Chabert, 
a Frenchman, pays, it is said, 43,000 florins ($17,- 



258 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

000) to the Duke of Nassau, annually, for license to 
carry on his gambling operations here, besides the 
music, lights, parks, &c, all of which are also 
paid for by him. It is said that some three hun- 
dred thousand florins are lost annually by the public 
at these gambling saloons. We spent several hours, 
at different times, in the crowd always standing 
around these tables, looking at the strange, and to 
us, melancholly sight of young and beautiful women 
glittering with jewelry, and dressed to the top of the 
fashion, (or more properly, perhaps, bottom ; for 
"full dress" seems to mean here, but half dress,) 
evidently of the higher classes, seated promiscuously 
amongst a crowd of men, their half-covered bosoms 
heaving, and their cheeks flushed, with the excite- 
ment of the loss or the gain, which every turn of the 
wheel produced. Others equally fashionably dressed, 
but apparently adepts, from the hard lines observa- 
ble in their care-worn features — despite the rouge 
and pearl which had been artfully used to conceal 
them, sat with card and pencil, carefully noting the 
chances of the game, and occasionally, when fortune 
seemed most favorable, betting their gold Napoleons 
with the coolness and sang f void of the most experi- 
enced gamblers. A young man, however, particular- 



ROULETTE. 259 

ly attracted our attention at the Faro table, where the 
game is decided bj the turning up of cards, much 
more rapidly and silently than at the Roulette, 
where the rattling of the marble traversing the num- 
bered wheel in a direction opposite to that in which 
it is twirled, seems to break the stillness and relieve 
the excitement which pervades both spectator and 
player. Hence, it is generally resorted to by the 
novice, while the older and bolder gambler prefers 
the more intense emotions excited by the game of 
Faro, where the silence is disturbed only by the 
dealer's call of the cards turned up, and the raking 
down of the coin which Las been won by the bank 
or the player. Both the dealer (bank) and the 
player are furnished with long handled, wooden 
scrapers or rakes with which the money is pushed 
or raked to the winning party. 

The table, like that of the Roulette, is covered 
with green cloth and divided in numbered squares 
upon which the bets are placed and the turning of 
the cards, or the dropping of the ball into one of the 
numbered receptacles in the wheel decides the game. 
The advantage, however, is always of course 
largely in favor of the bank, even if the game be 
fairly played ; and although occasionally it loses 



260 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

enough to whet the appetite of the foolish moths 
■who flit round its destroying flame — (and reports are 
always rife of the bank having been iiearly broken 
a few days before,) it is certain in the end to ruin 
and to rob all who continues to trust to its delusive 
chances. This young man who had attracted our 
attention, was evidently unacquainted with the game 
or his danger. His fair open brow and intelligent 
face, where neither care nor sin had yet left their 
impress, spoke of a kind father, and a fond mother, 
whose hopes were, perhaps, all centered in him. 
And now he was about to take the first step in the 
downward road to ruin. When we thought of those 
who are dear to us being exposed some day perhaps 
to similar temptations, we longed to pluck him by 
the button, to draw him away and point out the hell 
which yawned before him. He was well dressed and 
apparently of wealthy connexions, and made his bets 
in several Napoleons at a time, with a careless man- 
ner, as if he wished to impress the bystanders. We 
spent an hour or two in wandering about the grounds 
and the different saloons, but our mind continually 
reverted to that young man with his ingenuous 
countenance, and before retiring we again sought 
the table at which we had left him sitting. But 



DESPAIR. 261 

■what a change had come over that fair face. Pas- 
sion, excitement, despair, had done their work and 
Satan sat enthroned. He continued to bet — -throw- 
ing to the dealer his bank-bills of a thousand francs 
each and getting them changed into gold Napoleons, 
of which he would bet recklessly and without count- 
ing, twenty, thirty, or fifty at a time — constantly 
losing, until it was estimated by the bystanders that 
he had lost forty or fifty thousand francs. Finally 
his last IN apoleon having disappeared within the capa- 
cious jaws of the monster, he rose with clenched 
hands, staring eye, and a blanched cheek, and left 
the table, staggering out into the open air, a ruined 
man ; and, perhaps, like many others who have pre- 
ceded him, to blow out his brains before the next 
day's sun should rise upon his miserable existence. 

We were told that any one losing all they had 
with these gamblers received enough back to pay 
their passage to Paris or some other point. They 
are, doubtless, desirous to get clear of those whom 
they have fleeced, so that if they commit any despe- 
rate act, the odium may not fall upon them. We 
turned away sick at heart and retired to bed. 

Wiesbaden is a very beautiful and attractive spot. 
Fine parks, having beautiful walks, are open to the 



262 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

public at all times, and the hills around afford un- 
rivalled views of the Rheingen and surrounding 
country. Mayence with its red towers, and its bridge 
of boats, is seen in the distance, and also Biberich, 
where is situated the hunting chateau of the Duke 
of Nassau, of red sandstone, one of the handsomest 
palaces on the Rhine. Taking a steamer at Biberich 
for Coblentz, we commenced our descent of the cas- 
tled Rhine, reversing the usual route of tourists, as 
indeed we had done from the first. Entering Europe 
by the way of Italy, seemed to be like coming in at 
the back door, and rendered the scenery of the 
Rhine, after visiting the ruins of Italy and the 
mountains of Switzerland rather tame. The Rhine 
and its castles should by all means be seen first if 
possible. Our boat was crowded as all the Rhine 
boats are a.t this season of the year, and all the 
languages of the known earth might be heard spo- 
ken within the Babel of her decks. Tables were 
laid, and drinking, eating and smoking indulged in 
beneath the awnings which were spread to protect 
us from the sun. The boats are clumsy, low pres- 
sure affairs of only moderate speed. The pilot or 
steersman stands aft and steers with a horizontal 
wheel operating upon the iron shaft of the rudder by 



RHEMGEff. 263 

means of a cog wheel. The captain occupies a post 
amidships, and the whole management is similar to 
the steamers on the Thames, yet they run the intri- 
cate channels with perfect safety. 

A few miles below we entered the famous Rhein- 
gen, at Schierstein, which extends on the right 
bank of the river from hence to Lorch, at the mouth 
of the Wisper, and along the slopes of the Taunus' 
hills, a distance by the river, apparently of some forty 
or fifty miles. This was the Bacchanalian Paradise, 
and within this limited district are now grown the most 
famous of all the Hock or Rhenish wines. The warm 
southern slopes of these hills, covered with vines and 
producing the finest wines in the world, reminded us 
strongly of those of our own beautiful river, and but 
assured us that the day was not distant when the 
wines of the Ohio will possess a reputation equal 
to their merit, and be ranked with the best wines of 
Europe. In our journeyings through Italy, Switzer- 
land, France and Germany, we have tried a variety 
of kinds of their table wines, and have as yet found 
none except the best of the Rhine, that in our opin- 
ion will compare with the " Still Catawba," of 
Cincinnati. It requires age, however, to perfect its 
quality, and with us it is drank too soon. Near the 



264 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

former Cistercian convent of Eberbach, now an asy- 
lum for the insane, [lies the celebrated Steinberg 
vineyard belonging to the Duke of Nassau. It con- 
sists of about one hundred acres, and the wine made 
here is esteemed as much as the " Johannisberg," and 
is sold at an exhorbitant price — some of the vintages 
as high as four or five dollars the bottle. A mile or 
two farther down on the hills of Strahlenberg, the 
famous " Markobrunner " is produced. But the 
most celebrated of all the Rhenish wines, the " Johan- 
nisberg," is grown upon the place of the Prince 
Metternich, still further down the river. A conspi- 
cuous white mansion, the chateau of Johannisberg, 
marks the vineyard, which contains about seventy 
acres, and very little, if any of its product, finds its 
way into general use, notwithstanding all that 
is oifered under the name at every hotel and wine 
shop in Europe, at ten francs the bottle. The 
good vintages have been sold as high as $5.50 per 
bottle, (twenty-seven francs) and none are delivered 
without the Prince's signet. The vineyard is divided 
off into sections, and the product of each put in dif- 
ferent casks. The best is said to grow around the 
house and over the cellars. The kind of grape culti- 
vated is the " Riesling," and its management requires 



GISELA. 265 

very careful attention. This celebrated spot has 
passed through various hands with the changing 
fortunes of the Rhine, and was presented by Napo- 
leon to Marshall Kellerman, but with his downfall 
it reverted to the Emperor of Austria, who presented 
it to its present owner. 

We next reached Rudesherm, where the famous 
wine of that name is produced upon the terraces 
overhanging the river, close to the ruins of Ehrenfels. 
The ruins of the celebrated old Castle of Brom- 
serburg here form a conspicuous object in the 
scenery of the river. 

Bromser of Rudesheirn, was a crusader, and 
at Palestine distinguished himself by killing a dra- 
gon which was the terror of the Christian army. 
Afterwards being taken prisoner by the Saracens, 
while lying in captivity, Bromser makes a vow, that 
if he escapes he will send his beautiful and only 
daughter to the same captivity in which he is lang- 
uishing by devoting, her to a nunnery. The kind 
father escapes, and on his return finds the lovely 
Gisela, of course, in love with and beloved by a 
neighboring knight, and astounded at hearing the 
vow which her father has made. Tears and entreaties 

fail to move him from his purpose. He threatens 
23 



266 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

her with his curse, and she precipitates herself into 
the Rhine below, immortalizing the old tower, around 
which her pale ghost is still seen flitting in every 
storm, by the fisherman, and furnishing an excellent 
subject for an affecting novel. 

From hence we soon passed Bingen, " Sweet Bin- 
gen ! " nestling under the hills by the water's side, 
and through the turbulent eddies of the Bingerloch, 
to the Tower of Bishop Hatto, situated upon a rock in 
the middle of the river, where, by most veritable 
tradition, fortified by Southey's poem, he was eaten 
up by rats, as a just retribution for speculating in 
corn, and not paying sufficient respect to the vox 
pojpuli, in a time of scarcity. * * * Below this 
the hills are terraced to their summits, a thousand 
feet in height, by walls five to ten feet high, support- 
ing narrow strips of earth. In other places the 
earth is sustained along the sides of the steep hills 
in baskets, in which the vine is cultivated with success 
though with great labor, Seen at a distance the 
women and men engaged in cultivating these hanging 
vineyards, seemed to cling along the cliffs like 
swallows. 

At Caub is seen the quaint old castle of Pfalz, the 
toll-house of the present Duke of Nassau, standing 



LURLEI. 267 

upon a rock in the river, where he still exercises the 
feudal privilege of collecting toll upon all vessels 
which navigate the Rhine, after the manner of the 
ancient robbers, the ruins of whose castles dot the hills. 
He is the last of that line of precious chieftains, who, 
in olden times established themselves in these strong- 
holds at every turn of the river, and levied tribute 
by the strong arm upon all who passed. 

Carefully avoiding the " Seven Sisters," danger- 
ous rocks in the river, into which seven hard- 
hearted maidens were very properly converted, when 
by their charms they turned the heads of all the 
young knights far and near, and then refused to 
marry, we entered the rapids of the Bank. "We 
escaped the Syren, " Lurlei," represented by a rock 
of that name, who was said in olden time to beguile 
the boatmen hereabout, and by her magical voice 
lure them to destruction, similar to the story of the 
Sirens of Grecian fable. 

The careening of our vessel, however, as she 
rapidly shot by the whirlpool of Gewirr, gave evi- 
dence enough, to the least imaginative of our party, 
that this " Circe" of the Rhine still existed, and that 
were it not for the more powerful protection of the 
god of steam, we too, might be added to the throng 



268 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

which her wiles have engulphed, and who are now 
imprisoned in her emerald caves below. 

While passing here a cannon was fired from the 
boat, to awaken the echoes of the cliffs, when a scale 
or fragment from the vent of the gun, struck one of 
our young American friends, who had traveled with us 
from Italy, on the temple, cutting a vein and causing 
him to faint and fall upon the deck, covered with 
blood, as if dead. For a time great consternation 
and alarm ensued on board, as it was of course sup- 
posed he was killed; but after staunching the blood 
and washing him, it was found to be but a flesh 
wound. Yet, the sudden excitement and fear des- 
troyed all further enjoyment of the scenery, and we 
passed the ruins of the Castles of Reichenberg, the 
stern fortress of the Rheinfels, the Steinburg, Leib- 
enstein and Lahneck Castles, the latter the scene of 
Gothe's verses, Geister Gruss, and many other 
interesting spots, with hardly a look. 

We spent the night at Coblentz, and next morning 
visited the castle of Stolzenfels, the property of the 
King of Prussia. It is one of the old feudal castles, 
fully restored, having been destroyed by the French 
in 1688, and is now finished and decorated in the 
highest style of art of the olden time. 



BLUE MOSELLE. 269 

Crossing the river upon a bridge of boats, we 
visited the celebrated fortress of Ehrenbreitstein, 
the Gibralter and key of the Rhine. From its high 
ramparts we had an extensive view of the surround- 
ing country, embracing the Moselle and its rich valley. 
The river debouches here, not the " blue Moselle" of 
song, but a thick turbid stream, discoloring even the 
muddy though paler Rhine ; and when it bursts its 
icy fetters in the spring before the parent stream, 
which it often does, it sends destruction before it. 
"What sins these poets will have to answer for if ever 
poets are called to account ! However, the valley 
looks very charming from this height, and is cele- 
brated for producing both good wine and pretty girls 
— two ingredients which, mixed in a poets brain, might 
well cause them to think even the Mississippi blue. 

The castle of Ehrenbreitstein, (honor's broad stone) 
was taken and blown up by the French in 1799, but 
has since been fully repaired by the Prussians, and 
now mounts four hundred heavy cannon. It stands 
upon a high rocky cliff, and would seem to bid defi- 
ance to assault. 

In wandering about Coblentz, we came upon the 
monument erected by the French in 1812, with an 
inscription commemorative of the invasion of Russia 



270 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

by them, doubtless erected during the advance. A 
few months later the victorious Russians pursuing 
the flying French, came upon this monument, and 
their commander, St. Priest, instead of destroying 
it, with great good taste, turned the tables upon the 
French by causing to be engraved beneath their vain 
boast, these words in French, " Seen and approved 
by us, the Russian Commander of the city of Cob- 
lentz, January 1st, 1814." 



CHAPTER XXV. 

Rolandseck — The Seven Mountains — Drachenf els — Bonn — 
Cologne — A Squeers — The veritable Jean Maria Farina— 
— More Richmonds in the field— Cathedral of Cologne— Skulls 
of the Magi— Church of St. Ursula— 11,000 virgins— Legend 
— 6,000 martyrs — The horses in the chamber — Buried alive — 
Birthplace of Reubens — Railroad president — Politeness — Dus- 
seldorf — Cemeteries — Impedimenta— Storks — happy Omen — 
Holland — Amsterdam — Causeways — Canals — Currents — « 
Merchants — Cure for vagrancy — Charitable institutions- 
Water works — Paintings — Suspect — Dutch courage. 

We left Coblentz by the noon boat bound clown 
the Rhine, and were soon abreast of the Ursuline 
convent of Nonneworth, standing embowered in foli- 
age, upon an island of the same name. Here the 
bride of the unfortunate Roland, retired and took 
the veil on hearing of his reported death at Ronces- 
valles. The devoted lover, the nephew of Charle- 
magne, on his return, finding his bride lost to him 
forever, lived many years as a hermit in the Castle of 
Rolandseck — whose ruins crown a neighboring hight 
overlooking the convent, from whence he could at 

(271) 



272 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

least see the spot where she lived and mourned his 
loss. One of Schiller's most beautiful ballads, the 
" Knight of Toggenburg," is founded upon this ro- 
mantic history. The amiable intercession of Jose- 
phine is said to have preserved this convent from 
destruction by Napoleon, during his occupation of 
this important highway to Eastern and Southern 
Europe. Erorn hence to the " Seven mountains," 
which are the last of the Highlands of the Rhine as 
you descend the river, the ruins of innumerable cas- 
tles are seen upon the hills, all having great tradi- 
tionary interest. 

The Drachenfels, (or Dragon's rock) where accord- 
ing to the legend the " horned Siegfried " killed the 
dragon, crowns the highest of the seven peaks and 
marks the outpost of those royal robbers of the mid- 
dle ages. It is the first of the old castles seen on 
ascending the river and has been sweetly sung by 
Byron : 

" The castled crag of Drachenfels 
Frowns o'er the wide and winding Rhine, 
Whose breast of waters broadly swells 
Between the banks which bear the vine," &c. 

The stone of the celebrated Cathedral at Cologne, 
was obtained from quarries in these cliffs. Immedi- 



SQUEERS. 273 

ately opposite Draclienfels lies Bonn, where is situ- 
ated one of the most celebrated universities in 
Europe, and where Prince Albert was educated. 
Twenty miles through highly cultivated alluvial 
banks brought us to the old Roman city of Cologne, 
whose fragrance is in the nostrils of all the world, 
though her praises may not be on every tongue. 

We had a " Squeers " on board the steamer on our 
way down, one Carey, an usher we suppose from some 
school near London, who was out airing his scholars. 
The boat was crowded but he would not permit his 
boys to exercise their natural instinct of politeness, 
and yield their seats to some ladies, who were forced 
to stand. Nor would he permit them even to move 
closer together. The youngsters looked sheepish and 
ashamed enough at this rudeness on the part of 
their taacher, which they seemed to fully comprehend; 
but Squeers had paid his half price passage, and kept 
the seats ; giving his pupils their first lesson in po- 
liteness, and the manner of English traveling on the 
continent. 

Cologne, the old " Colonia Agrippina," was founded 

by Agrippina, the mother of Nero, (who was born 

here in the camp of her father, Germanicus) and in 

the days of Roman greatness was a favorite resort 
24 



274 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

of the emperors. Many relics of the old Roman times 
are still to be seen in the various fragments of the 
walls, and some even suppose their Roman ori- 
gin may still be traced in the features of the inhabi- 
tants. Oar first effort after a night's rest and a 
comfortable breakfast, was to look up the true " Jean 
Marie Farina," the maker of the original " Eau de 
Cologne," from whom we wished to procure some of 
the genuine article. But here was a dilemma for on 
sallying out, we found at every corner the shop of 
the original. There were numberless Richmonds in 
the field, all claiming originality and all having the 
sign of " Jean Marie Farina/ ' over their doors. 
Consulting our infallible Murray, however, we learned 
that the true and lawful heir of the original invention 
was to be found opposite the Julich's Platz. Thither 
we at once directed our steps and were soon supplied 
with an antidote to the unpleasant odors which in 
strange contrast also abound here. 

The Cathedral of Cologne although unfinished is 
one of the finest Gothic monuments in Europe. The 
two towers which were to be 500 feet in hight, are 
yet scarcely one third up, and being built of soft 
sandstone are already crushing and crumbling away 
at the base. From the perishable nature of the ma- 



SKULLS OF THE MAGI. 275 

terial of -which this church is formed, it is not likely 
that it will ever be completed. The huge crane used 
to elevate the stone for the towers still stands above 
them, although many years have elapsed since it was 
used. It was at one time removed, but a thunder 
storm occurring shortly after, one of the towers was 
struck by lightning and the superstitious citizens to 
appease the supposed anger of an offended Deity, 
immediately replaced the crane. Commenced about 
the year 1270, near 600 years have passed away 
since its foundations were laid. Its length is 511 
and its breath 231 feet. Many relics highly esteemed 
by the Catholics are kept here, amongst which are 
to be seen the veritable (?) skulls of the Magi, who 
came from the East with presents for the infant 
Savior. Their bones were carried off from Milan by 
the Emperor Frederic Barbarossa, and deposited 
here. They are encased in a shrine of silver, gold, 
and precious stones, with the names of Gaspar, Mel- 
chior and Balthazar, written in rubies upon it. 

At the Church of St. Peter we saw the celebrated 
picture of the crucifixion of that Saint, with his 
head downwards, by Reubens — a remarkable compo- 
sition, which was said by Reubens himself to be one of 
the best of his works. At the Church of St. Ursula, 



276 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

are shown what are claimed to be the bones of eleven 
thousand virgins. Above, around, and below, dis- 
played in cases, built into the walls, grinning from 
shelves, are sculls and horrid skeletons, and from the 
decayed teeth observable in some, we should set 
them down as very ancient virgins, to say the least. 
That saintly personage, Ursula — according to the 
legend, a Princess — set sail from somewhere, with a 
retinue of 11,000 young women on a devout pil- 
grimage to Rome, and arriving at Cologne, on her 
return, the whole party were cruelly slaughtered by 
the Hans, because they refused to break their vows 
of chastity. Based upon this childish tale of the 
monks, these bones are displayed in all their hideous 
array, by the priests at Cologne and apparently with- 
out a question of its truth. Another ossuary or 
church, St. Gereon, is lined with the bones of 6,000 
martyrs — the Theban legion, who were said to have 
been slain here, or at Zanten by the Roman Empe- 
ror Maximian, about the year 290. Bones and 
Cologne water seem the chief attractions of this place. 
Passing through one of the principal streets our at- 
tention was drawn to the heads of two gray horses 
stretched out of the third story window of an elegant 
mansion, the history of which we learned was that 



BUSIED ALIVE. 277 

a wife was once buried from that house, sup- 
posed of course to be dead. Not pleased with her 
quarters in the tomb, or jealous of some rival aspir- 
ant to her vacant place, or from some other cause 
she determined not to stay dead, and therefore arose 
and returned home about midnight, and knocking at 
the gate aroused her sleeping lord. He demanded 
who it was that thus disturbed his slumbers at that 
unseasonable hour ? Your wife, replied the spectre. 
My wife, said the astonished husband ! I would 
as soon expect to see my carriage horses looking out 
of the garret windows as to see my wife return from 
the tomb in which we deposited her this morning. 

Look then ! said the pious wife who had prayed 
to her patron saint to work a miracle in her behalf, 
and lo, the horses were at the window ! 

The husband was convinced, admitted his resur- 
rected wife, and ever since the stuffed skins of the 
horses have adorned the front third story window 
of that house to the admiring gaze of all the little 
boys and miracle loving old women of Cologne. This 
is a specimen of the miracles, by which the ignorant 
masses of Europe are influenced and controlled. 

The museum here contains some of the earlier 
specimens of the German school of painting, and 



278 BOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

although of no great merit, they are interesting as 
evidences of the revival of art upon the banks of the 
Rhine, about the year 1400 and cotemporary with 
Italy and the Netherlands. Reubens was born here 
1577, in the same house (still standing) in which 
Maria de Medici died in 1642. Cologne with all its 
variety of odors is an interesting city and would bear 
further examination but we must be off for Dussel- 
dorf, as our allotted time is rapidly drawing to a 
close. These Prussian railroads are managed with 
military precision. Uniformed and epauletted con- 
ductors and servants are at every station along the 
way, and every ten miles the car in passing strikes 
a bell which communicates ahead by telegraph, thus 
announcing the coming of the train and rendering 
a collision next to impossible. We observed at a 
point where we stopped, an important personage en- 
tering a select car prepared for his reception. Carpets 
were spread upon the platform leading to the car ; 
hats were off, and he was escorted with all the pomp 
of one of the royal family. We joined the gaping 
crowd, hoping to see at least a live prince, but on 
inquiring were informed (in a whisper) that it was 
the President of the Road ! This is a government 
appointment in this country. 



POLITENESS. 279 

The politeness of the Germans is proverbial. 
Every body you meet on the country highways, takes 
off his hat to you, and in the cities when you are 
accompanied by ladies, this mark of respect is fre- 
quently extended. Not to be out done, in politeness, 
we kept our beaver moving until we nearly wore 
off what little hair we had upon our caput. At 
Dusseldorf, as at Cologne and Coblentz, the Rhine is 
traversed by a bridge of boats. Two or three of 
these boats are moveable, and are dropped away 
when necessary for the passage of vessels and rafts. 
The small river Dussel enters the Rhine here which 
gives the name to the town. Its great collection of 
paintings by the old masters has been removed to 
Munich, but its modern school is amongst the most 
celebrated in Europe. We saw at the academy 
several fine pictures which had been purchased by 
some of our own citizens a few days before. Here 
are some of the best of the German school. 

In our rides around the city we had the curiosity 
to visit a burial ground, which the Germans call the 
" Court of peace," or " God's acre." Their customs 
are peculiar in regard to the dead. The graveyard 
is a place of pleasant resort at all times for the peo- 
ple ; its gates always stand open. But little beyond a 



280 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

cross or a simple stone ■with brief epitaph, marks 
the last resting place of the dead ; but the fresh 
chaplet or nosegay, the newly planted border of 
flowers, or the basin of holy water beside the grave, 
show that they are not soon forgotten. Near the 
ground (and communicating with it) is a building in 
which the dead are placed twelve hours after death, 
in conformity to law; the coffin is left open, the 
room warmed to a proper temperature, and the 
corpse carefully guarded until death is established 
beyond a doubt ; when the friends are advised and 
the interment takes place. By this wise and hu- 
mane precaution it is said several lives have been 
saved. At some places, especially Frankfort, the 
fingers of the corpse are placed over a ring attached 
to a bell, so delicately hung that the least pulsation 
would give the alarm, when medical aid would in- 
stantly be called in. Having sent all our impedi- 
menta, save a hand bag, to Paris, by our courier 
Paul, there to await our arrival, we again took 
the cars for the north, determining as we had seen 
the highest part of civilized Europe, to see also the 
lowest, and to visit those who dwell below, the sea 
in the Netherlands. 

We had followed the harvest from Italy to the 



STORKS. 281 

North sea, and it seemed fruitful everywhere. The 
peasantry were in the fields cutting the grain with 
their short, rude hand hooks, altogether in use here, 
and binding up the sheaves ; or with groaning wain 
transporting the bountiful harvest to their overflowing 
barns. Every thing wore the air of contentment 
and peace. We saw tall storks looking down uncon- 
cernedly upon us as we passed along, from their 
huge nests of sticks, built upon cart wheels placed 
upon the tops of the chimneys. These birds migrate 
hither in May, returning south with their pro- 
geny in August ; and a nest upon a cottage is con- 
sidered a good omen and is never disturbed. Cart 
wheels are placed upon the chimneys in the spring, 
to woo the bird of happy omen and induce it to alight 
upon their domicils . 

The stork is much venerated also in Holland. It 
is remarkably attached to its young, and has been 
seen in cases of fire carrying them in its beak to a 
place of safety, and in some cases failing in the 
attempt has perished with them. 

Gradually we descended; passing Arnheim and 
Utrecht on the way, and as we had no luggage we 
had no difficulty at the custom houses. Soon we 
began to observe the fields cut by ditches and the 



2 82 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

country traversed by canals covered by boats, when 
we knew we were in Holland, and towards even- 
ing Amsterdam rose before us like Venice from the 
sea. 

We approached the city over along causeway bridg- 
ing, a broad expanse of water, very much as writers 
describe the ancient approach to the city of Mexico. 
As upon the causeways of Mexico, the Spaniards 
were stoutly resisted by Montezuma and his Indian 
warriors ; so upon the causeways of Amsterdam, 
have they been met by the Dutch, who have here 
fought bravely and desperately in defence of their 
native land. Having taken lodgings at the best 
hotel, the " Pays Bas, Doelen straat/' we sallied out 
to see someting of this the chief city of Holland, and 
one of the most singular in Europe, in the short time 
at our disposal. The streets are everywhere occu- 
pied in the center by canals communicating with the 
sea, through gates which open and close with the 
tide, similar to the docks at Liverpool. ^Thus a 
current is created which cleanses them, and basins 
or docks are formed for small vessels. These canals 
also connect in the rear with the Amstel river, which 
here empties into the Zuider Zee. The level of 
its waterSj however, is below the mean level of the 



HOLLAND. 283 

sea or bay, and the lowest tide gives but one and a 
half feet descent. 

Thus this singular city is only preserved from 
being submerged by the sea on one side or the river 
upon the other, through the most skillful management 
of the sluices and dykes, which at the same time 
become the scavengers and carry oif all the filth and 
offal which the sewers discharge into them. As the 
tide rises the sea gates open by its action, and the 
river gates close ; when the sea water flows 
through all the streets. As soon as the tide com- 
mences to ebb, the action of the gates is reversed, 
and the accumulated water of the river again flows 
to the sea through the city, carrying with it what* 
ever may float therein. 

This city differs from Venice in having the canals 
which everywhere bisect it, lined with a narrow, 
well paved street on each side, and bordered with 
trees. The houses are substantial, though generally 
plain, and all built upon piles driven far down into 
the mud, some of them to the depth of seventy feet. 

The extensive quays filled with shipping, the 
bustle of commerce, and the active population 
which throng the streets, all give evidence of 
prosperity. 



284 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

Her merchants are enterprising, and yet not so 
devoted to business as to find no time for litera- 
ture and the arts. They have a society called 
the Felix Meritis, a kind of Mercantile Library 
Association, occupying a handsome building in the 
" Keizers Gracht." 

It contains a library, museum, collection of casts 
of ancient statues, chemical and mathematical instru- 
ments, reading-room, and a fine concert room and 
observatory. 

Lectures are here given in the various branches of 
science, art, and literature, which the young mer- 
chants attend in great numbers. 

An ingenious method formerly existed here for 
curing vagrancy, which was said to have been very 
effectual. The " vag " was put into a dungeon which 
in common with all the cellars here, was beneath the 
surface of the sea. Water was let in upon him, and 
a pump furnished, when, if he did not ]abor vigor- 
ously, the inexorable element filled the dungeon and 
soon rid the community of the worthless drone. It 
is said no vagrant was ever so "punished a second 
time ; he either reformed at once or left the country. 

The charitable institutions of Amsterdam have 
been her crowning glory, for many years ; no less 



WATER-WORKS. 285 

than twenty-three are in active operation. Asylums 
for the aged and infirm, the insane, the orphan, the 
widow, and the foundling, are all to be found here. 
We observed the inmates of some of these institu- 
tions with one half of their jackets red, the other 
black. This is a distinguishing mark, and any gin- 
house or play-house, or other improper place permit- 
ting the wearer of that costume to enter, is heavily 
fined. 

In some of the old parts of the town, we saw 
strange styles of architecture, projecting gables, 
forked chimneys, and houses leaning like the tower 
of Pisa, from the unstable nature of their foundations. 
We passed in our walk, the humble dwelling of the 
heroic De Ruyter, distinguished in the naval annals 
of Holland. 

The city is remarkably clean and clear of dust, 
and is well supplied with water, brought in pipes 
from the dunes or hills near Haarlem. It is said to 
have been the model of the " Tyre " of Fenelon in 
Telemaque. 

Here are to be seen some of the best specimens of 
the German schools of painting. The museum, or 
picture gallery contains Van-der Heist's celebrated 
piece, called the "Miracle of the Dutch School,'' 



286 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

representing the City Council of Amsterdam (twenty- 
five figures, all portraits) met to celebrate the treaty 
of Minister, in 1648. It is said to be the finest 
picture of portraits in the world. This treaty was 
an important event in the history of Holland, as it 
first confirmed her independence. Here are also 
some fine candle-light scenes, by Gerard Dow ; game 
and bird pictures, by Hondekoeter ; noble cattle 
pieces, by Paul Potter ; marine pictures, by Vander- 
vennes and Vandervelde ; low-life scenes, by Jan 
Steen ; dead game, by Wouvermans ; the night- 
watch, by Rembrant, and some fine pieces by 
Teniers. Some of the best specimens of the works 
of these great artists are to be seen here. 

On returning to the hotel about dark, we found 
the door strictly guarded by two military sentinels, 
pacing to and fro, who eyed us sharply as we entered. 
Feeling ourselves guilty of strong political senti- 
ments, decidedly at variance with the prevailing 
government, we at once concluded that we were as 
they say in France, suspect, and that the police had 
been put upon our track. However, our fears were 
soon quieted, on learning that a General of the 
"Grand Armee" of Holland, had arrived at our 
hotel, and his military majesty could not sleep with- 



DUTCH COUKAGE. 287 

out those two poor fellows pacing up and clown before 
the door. Vive le humbug ! thought we, as we 
retired to bed with the tramp, tramp, of these watch- 
ful guardians of "dutch courage" all night under our 
window. 



CHAPTER XXVI. 

Sunday — Nieuwe Kirk — Vuur Stoof — Spions — Curiosity of 
the Sex — Droogerigens — Anspreker — Picturesque Boats — 
North Holland— The Y— Great Ship Canal— Polders— The 
lowest country in the world — World turned upside down — 
Boreas and Neptune at war — Windmills— Broek, the cleanest 
town in the world — A town without a street — Singular cus- 
tom — Cleanliness — Sea dykes — Dunes — Saardam, Peter the 
Great — Gondolas — Don Quixotte — Schelde — Antwerp — Paint- 
ings — B,euben's elevation and descent from the Cross — Calvary 
— Cathedral steeple — Ahead of time — Quay — Exchange. 

Being Sunday at Amsterdam, we attended religious 
worship at the Nieuwe Kirk, so-called, although 
built before the Reformation, in 1408. This is one 
of the finest Churches, or Doms, as they are called, 
in Holland, and is of the Gothic architecture of the 
middle ages. The apparently eloquent discourse 
of the pastor, who was dressed in the Puritan cos- 
tume of Charles the First's time, a short black cloak 
with a ruff round the neck, looking like the pictures 

of the Pilgrim Fathers, was lost upon our untutored 

(288) 



VUUR STOOF. 289 

ears, being delivered in broad Holland Dutch, but 
the singing, led by a fine toned and powerful organ, 
in which a thousand well-trained voices united, 
swelled up to the lofty ceiling and amongst the tall 
arches, filling the vast building with such a sacred 
harmony as we had never heard before, and in listen- 
ing to that alone we felt that we worshipped in spirit 
and in truth. Handing a few stuivers to the sexton, 
(as is the custom here) we obtained seats, and de- 
posited our mite in the black bag, which is kept con- 
tinually passing around amongst the congregation, 
as all are expected to contribute something for the 
poor. 

Hats are worn throughout the service ; and it 
seems not out of place in these old Catholic struc- 
tures, which are not suited for preaching, and are 
so large and cold that one can not remain in them 
long uncovered with safety. A pyramid of little 
boxes occupied one side of the church as we entered, 
which we learned were the vuur stoof, that universal 
article of comfort of the Dutch lady. It is a small 
box with holes perforated at the top, having an open- 
ing at the side, in which is inserted an earthen pan 
containing hot embers of turf or peat, and used as 

a footstool, and enveloped by the garments of the 

25 



290 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

ladies, keeps the feet and limbs -warm and com- 
fortable. The fashionable lady of Holland rarely 
leaves her house without one of these indispensable 
articles carried by a servant behind her. To this 
and other like cares in regard to dry and warm 
clothing, may be attributed the absence of rheuma- 
tism, which would otherwise prevail in so low and 
damp a climate. 

Some of the customs of the people are very 
peculiar, and indeed every thing we saw here 
seemed as strange as if we had suddenly been 
landed amongst our antipodes the Chinese. Every- 
where as we sauntered through the streets, the social 
character of the people was evident from the habit 
of whole families sipping their tea at the front 
windows of their houses, where they can see and 
bow to their friends as they pass. 

Outside of the lower windows of all well appointed 
houses are placed two spions, or mirrors, extending 
out upon an iron arm or pivot, and placed at such an 
angle as to reflect both up and down the street. 
The Holland lady can thus indulge the proverbial 
curiosity of her sex and see at a glance what is 
passing or who is approaching, while seated within 
at her favorite post the front window, and thus fore- 



PICTURESQUE BOATS. 291 

warned, can honor the passer by with a smile or con- 
tinue her knitting at her option. 

The signs of the druggists shops, or droogerigens, 
struck us as very laughable. Instead of the bottles of 
various colored liquids in the windows, as with us, 
they are invariably distinguished both here and else- 
where in Holland, by the head of a Scotchman, with 
Tartan cap and plume, carved in wood and placed 
over the door, who, with open mouth and extended 
tongue, is in the attitude of vomiting. We do not 
know the origin of this singular custom, but presume 
it is a delicate acknowledgement that they are in- 
debted to Sawney for an early step in medical 
science. 

When one dies in Holland the AnspreJcer, dressed 
in black, with a short cloak, cocked hat and wig, and 
long crape hat band, is sent round to all the friends 
and relatives, to announce thus formally the sad 
event, and bid them to the funeral. 

The canals or quays swarm with the picturesque 
craft, whose round- carved sterns, gilded prows and 
painted sides, form so conspicuous a feature in the 
pictures of Vandervelde, Cuyp, and other Dutch 
painters. These canals are crossed at frequent in- 
tervals with draw bridges, by means of which com- 



292 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

munication between the different parts of the town 
is kept up. The strange intermixture of the water 
and the trees, the shipping, and the tall red pointed 
gables of the houses, covered with variegated tiles, 
has a novel as well as a pleasing effect. 

The next day we employed a carriage for the pur- 
pose of visiting "Helder," (hell's door) at the north- 
ern extremity of North Holland, and to see the 
grand ship canal, through which all the commerce 
of Amsterdam passes in its way to and from the 
city. 

North Holland is an island formed by the alluvial 
deposit in the North Sea, of the Rhine and other 
rivers. It is about fifty miles long by about thirty 
broad, and separated from the mainland, or Holland 
proper by a bay called the " Zuyder Zee," which at 
Amsterdam is called the Y, from its resemblance, we 
suppose, in shape to that letter. The entrance to 
the harbor of Amsterdam through the Y, or the Zuy- 
der Zee, is obstructed by sand banks and shoals, so 
that in former times vessels had to be lifted over by 
means of an apparatus called a camel. The energy 
and enterprise, however, of the Dutch, have over- 
come every obstacle, and now their capacious and 
deep harbor is reached without difficulty by the larg- 



GREAT SHIP CANAL. 293 

est merchant ships, through this wonderful canal, 
fifty-one miles long, one hundred and twenty-four 
feet wide and twenty-one feet in depth, the most 
remarkable work of the kind ever executed. To 
comprehend fully the magnitude and difficulty of the 
undertaking, it must be understood that it was not 
so much to excavate as to elevate this work, since in 
some places the surface of the water is twenty-five 
or thirty feet above the surface of the surrounding 
land. The foundation for the three or four tidegates 
or locks, had to be obtained by driving piles down to 
the solid ground beneath, even to the original bottom 
of the sea, some seventy feet or more. 

Our road lay along the bank of this canal for a 
great part of the way, frequently far below the water 
line ; around us lay spread out the green fields, 
covered with sleek cattle, and the largest sheep we 
ever saw, were buried in the thick grass of the 
polders. 

This seemed strange, when at the same time the 
heaviest vessels were passing along the canal upon 
the sea level, far above our heads, their sails and often 
their huge hulls, shading us from the sun. Their 
keels may be said, indeed, to float above the chimney 
tops, and the frogs croaking among the bullrushes, 



294 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

to look down upon the swallow on the eaves. We 
had just come from the highest part of inhabited 
Europe, amongst the Alps, four or five thousand feet 
above the sea ; and here we were witnessing the en- 
terprise of man enabling him to dwell comfortably, 
thirty feet below its surface. Everything seemed 
reversed, and reminded us of the childish story of 
the world " turned upside down." 

We had traveled for some thirty-six miles upon a 
brick pavement, without a hole or rut the entire 
distance, while through some of the towns the side- 
walks were paved with bowlders. The farm houses 
were all of one story, of brick, with tall conical roofs 
of thatch rising above them and resembling miniature 
Egyptian pyramids. Their wagons are like their 
boats, carved and gaily painted, and have high backs 
rising up behind, giving them the appearance of 
Chinese Junks on wheels. The pole, or tongue does 
not extend between the horses, but rises up in front 
of the driver like a horn, and is carved and gilded. 
It requires an address possessed only by a Hol- 
lander to steer these queer wagons by the aid of this 
helm, but they do it, nevertheless with great adroit- 
ness. We were reminded of the description which 



WINDMILLS. 295 

Hudibras gives of Holland, during this day's ride. 

" A country that draws fifty feet of water, 
In which men live as in the hold of nature, 
And when the sea does in upon them break, 
And drowns a province, does but spring a leak. 

Who always ply the pump and never think 
They can be safe but at the rate they sink." 

This description is literally true of North Holland. 
The Dutch have here built an immense levee around 
the whole island, and setting old Boreas at war with 
Neptune, have actually pumped out the sea. Thou- 
sands of windmills are constantly going, and without 
the wind, the country would at once sink beneath 
the waves. Surrounded by water, however, and 
being entirely flat, old Boreas never fails them. 
Three windmills are usually employed at each farm. 
The water is conducted by canals or ditches to the 
mills, and raised by the wind with the aid of an 
Archimedes screw, from one level to the other by 
three successive lifts, and thrown at last into the 
grand canal, which serves as a general drain to the 
whole island, and for the use of which each farmer 
pays a yearly tax. In some places where formerly 
existed deep lakes, from whence peat has been dug, 



296 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

which forms the only fuel here, the land is twenty 
and even thirty feet below the level of the sea. 
These are called polders, and form when thus drained 
very rich and productive fields. 

At times, in case of military invasion, the embank- 
ments have been cut, the country inundated, and thus 
rid of a troublesome enemy, although at an immense 
sacrifice. They thus purchased their freedom from 
Spain, and at a later period, prevented the invasion 
of the country by the French. 

On our way we visited the little town of Broek, 
said to be the cleanest town in the world. The 
women which we saw were straight as an arrow, blue 
eyed, and handsome featured, and wore a peculiar 
head-dress of brass or gold, like a helmet, coming 
round the head and confining the hair in front. We 
saw others with large coal-scuttle shape bonnets on, 
which singular fashion, so directly the opposite of the 
little jaunty hats now worn by the ladies elsewhere, 
excited our smiles. At times we saw women hitched 
to the lines of the boats upon the canals by a strap, 
dragging them along like horses. Broek is a town 
without a street, its narrow canals and sidewalks are 
the only means of communication. It is occupied 
principally by the wealthier class of burghers, who 



CLEANLINESS. 297 

keep up the old custom of their ancesters, and they 
allow neither horse nor cart in the place. We left 
our carriage and walked through it. The narrow 
passages are paved with colored bricks, laid in vari- 
ous patterns, and the garden walks are fantastically 
covered with shells. The houses are painted as 
gaudily as the scenery of a theater — and at the 
door, their sabota are seen, as those who enter 
change their shoes, and the polished floors are thus 
protected from dirt. The Emperor Alexander sub- 
mitted to this custom on his visit to Broek. At one 
house we observed a pin-cushion hanging upon the 
knob of the door, surrounded with white lace. This 
singular ornament excited our curiosity, and on 
inquiry we learned that it was a custom here thus to 
inform the public that an interesting event had taken 
place. The white lace indicates that a daughter 
has been added to the population of Broek. 
When the pin-cushion is trimmed with red the 
young stranger is understood to be a boy, and 
during this interesting period no bailiff or execution 
can enter the premises. This custom prevails, also, 
in other parts of Holland. We visited the interior 
of one of their houses, and found everything as clean 

as a pin. On one side of the house are the stalls 
26 



293 NOTES DKAWN AT SIGHT. 

for the cows in winter, for all are under the same roof, 
and every family is engaged more or less in the manu- 
facture of the staple article of Dutch industry, cheese. 
These stalls are very carefully arranged with gutters 
for carrying off the washings, and all have a ring 
overhead to which old brindle's tail is attached, and 
tied up as soon as she is allowed to occupy these 
cleanly quarters. The cheese-presses and machinery 
necessary for the manufacture also occupy this 
part of the house, and at the time of our visit, 
the small round cheeses were piled up in pyramids 
like cannon balls in a navy yard ; in summer it is 
the general dining-room. The balance of the lower 
story is occupied by the family, while overhead 
is stored the winter's supply of hay. 

We continued to meet vessels of the largest class 
being " tracked " or dragged down to Amsterdam, 
having ten or a dozen horses attached to the lines ; 
while others were passing up with their sails, the 
wind being fair for that direction. 

At Heider we Visited the great sea wall, which is built 
along the northern shore, upon piles driven far into 
the sand. This wall is built with almost superhuman 
power, to guard against the violent storms which 
come sweeping down from the Northern ocean. 



DUNES. 299 

Here an immense embankment has been construc- 
ted for many miles along the coast, high and strong 
enough to protect it from the wildest fury of the 
ocean; the outside face of which is paved with huge 
blocks of stone, brought from the coast of Norway. 
The cost of the hydraulic works of Holland is said 
to amount to the enormous sum of §1,500,000,000, 
of our money, and the annual expense of repairing 
these dykes, and protecting the country against in- 
undation, to about three millions. 

The " Dunes " form a natural embankment for a 
portion of this northern coast , they are the only 
hills in Holland, and are sand banks some fifty to 
one hundred feet in hight, thrown up by the action of 
the sea. They were sometimes set in motion by the 
wind, when they destroyed whole fields by covering 
them with sand. To obviate this, they have been 
planted with the coarse sea-grass, and now remain 
quiet enough. Near these dunes, off Camperdown, 
the great naval battle was fought between the Eng- 
glish and Dutch, in 1797. 

On our return we passed through the towns of 
Monnikendam, Spuykebot^ Saarclam, &c, the latter 
renowned as the place where Peter the Great of 
Russia worked, incognito, at ship building, in the 



800 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

dockyards of Holland. The humble cottage in which 
he lodged as Master Peter, or Peter Baas, as he was 
called, and known by his fellow workmen, has been 
purchased by the late Queen of Holland and another 
house built over it to protect it from the weather. 
Thousands of names are cut and carved over the 
doors and in other places about the rooms, and 
amongst the rest, that of the Emperor Alexander, 
with an inscription, " Nothing is too small for a great 
man." 

We here saw the floating carriages ot these peo- 
ple in which the ladies pay their distant visits 
the canals, that everywhere intersect the towns. 
They differ from the gondolas of Venice, and have 
a cabin like a fine carriage, with lace curtains, 
carpeted, and cushioned, and thus form quite an aris- 
tocratic equipage. We here drove literally upon the 
sidewalk, the streets proper, bordering upon the canal 
being all occupied by the small gardens of those 
living opposite. At the farther end, and overhanging 
the water, were little fantastic temples one to each 
house, in which the honest burghers love to sit and 
sip their tea, or enveloped in an immense cloud of 
smoke from their pipes, dream away the evening 
hours, oblivious of the frogs which are constantly 



DON QUIXOTTE. 301 

croaking beneath their feet. The little gardens were 
beautifully planted with flowers, the houses of some 
embowered in foliage, through which statues peeped 
occasionally, and all wore and air of great happiness 
and content. 

The windmills along this part of the Island are 
innumerable. They are not confined here to pump- 
ing alone, but drive the saw, crush the rape seed 
into oil, or grind paints and grains. The mills and 
the sails are fantastically painted, and so numerous 
that were Don Quixotte again to set out upon his 
chivalric mission, he would find here a most Her- 
culean task ; and doubtless would be much pro- 
voked to the attack by their long red and blue 
arms swinging round, and the terrible faces which 
the gaily painted houses enable one to conjure up 
when seen from a short distance. There are said to 
be nine thousand of these windmills in Holland, cost- 
ing fifteen millions of dollars ; and they are driven 
by sails much larger than we have ever seen else- 
where — in some cases being one hundred and twenty 
feet in length. 

There are water omnibusses or " track shuyts," 
navigating these canals in all directions with consid- 
erable speed, having accomodations for first and 



302 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

second class passengers ; these are much used by the 
inhabitants. 

Returning to Amsterdam, we left for Antwerp, 
delighted with our visit to this strange part of the 
world. Our route lay partly down the " Schelde," 
by steamboat, passing several picturesque old Flem- 
ish towns on the way, whose strange architecture 
amused us ; and we arrived at the renowned old capi- 
tal of Flanders late in the evening. Antwerp enjoys 
a high reputation for the encouragement of art, and 
for the eminent artists she has produced. Reubens, 
Vandyke, Teniers, Jordaens, and Quentin Matseys — 
the celebrated smith who became an artist to win the 
hand of his wife — all were natives of Antwerp or 
its immediate neighborhood. Our visit here was more 
particularly to see the two great works of Reubens, 
his masterpieces, in the Cathedral, "The elevation and 
descent from the Cross.' 7 They are terribly beautiful 
pictures, notwithstanding the Descent has lost some 
of its original power by the retouching which some 
parts have suffered. The Elevation, we thought, 
was quite equal to the Descent, although the latter 
is usually spoken of as his great masterpiece. There 
are several other fine pictures in this church, by 
Reubens, and at the museum here, there are no less 



CALVARY. 303 

than twelve or fourteen of his best works, and six 
of Vandyke's. There are also at the museum, some 
good specimens of the German school, and one or 
two of Quentin Matsey's. 

The German school of painting, is remarkable for 
the delicacy of coloring and the style of finish which 
characterize its pictures, but they will not for a 
moment compare in sublimity, grandeur, or power 
with the old Italian masters. 

At St. Pauls Church is a singular exhibition. An 
artificial Calvary, made of rock-work is formed 
against the side of the building in the yard, upon the 
summit of which is the Crucifixion, the figures of 
plaster being the size of life. Other figures are 
upon the Mount, and beneath is a grotto, copied, 
it is said, from the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusa- 
lem. On entering the sepulchre, a figure of wax is 
seen, encircled with vestments of silk, surrounded 
with an iron grille to protect it from touch, and 
intended to represent our Savior. Paintings of the 
glowing flames of Purgatory, adorn the wails of the 
sepulchre, with faces distorted by the agony which 
the wicked are supposed to endure in that place o 
torment. 

We went to St. Jaques* Church to see the tomb of 



304 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT.] 

the great painter Reubens, who lies buried here, and 
also a splendid altar piece, painted by him for this 
church, a Holy Family, in which his own portrait, 
those of his two wives, his father and grand-father, 
and his son are introduced. His " Scourging of 
Christ," is a wonderful picture also, though the sub- 
ject is a disagreeable one, and so truthfully is the 
story told that the effect is painful. The collection of 
good paintings at Antwerp, both in the churches and 
in private collections is quite large, and many days 
would be necessary to examine them fully. 

The Cathedral here possesses one of the tallest 
and finest steeples in Europe, which is so delicately 
and elaborately carved that the Emperor Napoleon 
is said to have likened it to Mechlin lace. It is four 
hundred and three feet in height, of beautiful Gothic 
architecture, and contains an extensive set of chimes 
composed of ninty-nme bells. One very large bell 
requires, it is said, sixteen men to ring it 

We found our watch here, suddenly one-half hour 
too slow, but learned, upon inquiry, that the town 
clocks all struck the hours one-half hour in advance- 
This is "taking time by the forelock." 

The Exchange here (since burned down) is a beau- 
tiful room, with roof of glass like the Crystal 



EXCHANGE. 305 

Palaces of England and America ; and the Quay, 
an artificial basin, one mile in length, excavated along 
side the Schelde, in which most of the ships lie 
protected from the ice, is not excelled in Europe ; 
Napoleon alone having spent ten millions of dollars 
on it. 

• The house in which Reubens resided, and the pa- 
vilion in which he worked, are objects of interest, as 
also a beautiful Gothic canopy of iron over a well 
in one of the public squares, executed by the cele- 
brated artist-smith, Quentin Matseys, in his earlier 
days. 



CHAPTER XXVII. 

Mechlin — Brussels — Waterloo — Officious guides — The chateau 
of Hougoumont — Relics — Making lace — Paris — Versailles 
■ — Great and little Trianons — Fontainbleau — Forest — Luxem- 
bourg — Paintings — Louvre — Reubens — Murillo's Conception 
■ — Gobelin tapestry — Hotel de Cluny — London by gas light — 
Westminster Abbey — Poet's corner — Shakspeare's epitaph — 
House of Parliament — Parks of London — Rotten Row — Na- 
tional gallery — Windsor Castle — Runnymede — Stoke Pogis — 
Gray's elegy — Gray's tomb — Windsor Park — Spurgeon. 

Leaving the old walled and fortified city of Ant- 
werp, with its towers and moats behind us on our 
way towards Paris, we soon passed through the town 
of Mechlin which gives its name to a species of lace 
first manufactured here, though now supplanted by 
Brussels, and reached the latter city in time to ride out 
to the field of Waterloo during the afternoon. On 
arriving at the field we at once employed a guide to 
sit upon the box with the driver, as the only way of 
ridding ourselves of the importunity of this class of 
troublesome quack knowledge pedlars who hang 
about all such places in Europe as guides. We sti- 

(306) 



WATERLOO. 307 

pulated that lie should only speak when spoken 
to, and started to survey the scenes of this memora- 
ble action. 

The immense mound erected by the Belgians 
about the center of the field, surmounted with the 
Belgic lion, forms the best look-out from whence to 
survey the general character of the ground, and with 
a map one has no difficulty in comprehending the 
localities referred to in the account of the action. 
We have no great taste for such details, but felt a 
curiosity to see the" chateau of Hougoumont, where 
the hardest fighting took place as it was the key to 
the British position. We walked over to it and found 
evident marks of the rough handling it received on 
that bloody day, in the battered walls and charred 
beams which are still visible. It is an old Flemish 
farm house or chateau, with a brick wall inclosing 
an orchard, behind which the British posted them- 
selves and held it througout the day ; the French 
vainly expending their fire of musketry against the 
red brick wall, which they mistook for the red 
uniform of the British troops, as it was partially 
concealed by trees. The houses were set on fire and 
burned by the French shells, but the place was not 
taken by them during the action. A number of 



308 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

monuments have been erected upon different parts 
of the field ; one by the Prussians and another over 
the Hanoverean officers of the German Legion who 
fell on that occasion. The supply of relics does not 
in the least decrease, and the curiosity hunter will 
still find a few more left of Prussian eagles, French 
buttons, and cannon and musket balls to order for 
many years to come. 

Brussels is a beautiful city, with boulevards all 
around it, filled with fine shade trees and by the 
Parisians is called " Petit Paris," as it apes the 
manners and appearance of the great city. It has 
a finely shaded park resembling the Tuilleries, 
filled with statues, and enlivened by fountains — with 
avenues of trees and parterres of flowers, and with its 
beautiful streets and pleasant drives, is no mean 
rival of the capitol itself, as a place of residence. 
We visited a manufactory of the celebrated lace now 
so renowned throughout the world, and witnessed 
the facility with which the nimble fingers of a hun- 
dred girls and women worked the beautiful texture. 
Buying a few specimens we took wing again for 
Paris and were in a few hours comfortably bestowed in 
our old quarters at the Hotel Meurice. The next day 
we visited Versailles by railroad, and were quite dis- 



VERSAILLES. 309 

appointed to find the fine gallery of modern histori- 
cal pictures closed on that day, as it was the chief 
object of our visit. We, however, contented our- 
selves with an examination of the beautiful and 
extensive grounds which surround this grand palace, 
with their bosquets, " allees verte, " cascades, 
lakes, jets d'eau, flower gardens, orangeries, &c, 
and ornamented as they are with statues, and vari- 
ous sculptures they present a picture of princely 
magnificence of which we in our plain country have 
but a faint conception. We took great pleasure in 
visiting the romantic Swiss cottages which were 
built for the beautiful and unfortunate Marie Antoi- 
nette, with thatched roofs, and all the appurtenances 
of the " chalet " of the Alps. Here dressed in the 
costume of a Montagnarde, she loved to retire from 
the gay world, and engage in the simple avocations 
of a country maiden — making cheese and doing the 
duties of the kitchen with her own hands. Near by 
stand also the little and great " Trianons," the 
former built by Louis XV for the Duchess Du Bani, 
and the latter by Louis XIV for Madam De Main- 
tenon. They are both very elegant small palaces, 
and the grand Trianon was the favorite residence of 
Napoleon. 



§10 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

Our next visit was to Fountainbleau, where 
amongst Gobelin tapestries, rock crystal chandeliers, 
splendid vases, and other beautiful objects of virtu, 
of immense value, the little simple table upon which 
Napoleon signed his abdication, commands the most 
attention. The rooms of the lamented and pure 
minded Josephine are shown, and also that in which 
the divorce was consumated. 

The forest of Fontainbleau is renowned as the 
hunting park of the old kings of France. We 
drove a few hours through its deep shade, visiting 
some of the chief points of interest in its scenery 
but saw nothing more beautiful than can be seen in 
an hour's drive any day through our native forests. 

At the Palace of the Luxembourg, which is 
situated within the city of Paris, we found some of 
the best specimens of modern art by Paul Delaroche, 
Horace Vernet, and the remarkable cattle pieces of 
Rosa Bonheur, together with paintings by Roqueplan 
and others. The gardens are embelished with the sta- 
tues of women distinguished in French history, 
executed by the best French artists. The great 
collection of paintings, however, at Paris, is to be 
seen at the Louvre. Here is an immense number 
classified into different schools, as the Italian, Fie- 



LUXEMBOURG. 311 

mish, Dutch, French, &e. There are several large 
pictures claiming to be bj Reubens which were for- 
merly in the Luxembourg; but, although Reubens 
painted very rapidly and sometimes very carelessly,, 
it is rather too much to lay to his account such 
daubs as some of these seem to be ; we think any one 
who looks at the beautiful creations of his pencil at 
Antwerp, will at once conclude that Reubens never 
saw these. The great gem of the Louvre, however, 
is the " Conception," by Murillo, which was pur- 
chased at the sale of Marshall Soult's gallery for 
the French government at a cost of 615,300 francs, 
about 120,000 dollars. It represents a full length 
figure of the Virgin, surrounded by angels. The 
face of the Virgin is exquisite, heavenly, and im- 
prints itself on one's mind in characters ineffaceable. 
The faces of some of the angels also are very beautiful, 
but the drapery and clouds which form the balance 
of the picture have nothing remarkable about them 
and are rather poorly painted, and upon the whole 
we concluded that the French government had paid 
pretty roundly for that specimen. 

"We wandered through these immense galleries, 
over the waxed and slippery floors, until we were 
entirely exhausted, admiring the splendid specimens 



312 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

of all schools which are here collected. The ceilings 
of all these rooms are beautifully frescoed, they 
are well lighted, and altogether exceed any thing else 
of the kind in Europe. In other apartments are 
antiquities, American, Assyrian, and Egyptian ; also 
bronzes, sculpture, and a fine collection of the models 
of vessels of all nations. The whole of the interest- 
ing objects in the Louvre would require a week at 
least properly to examine and to appreciate. We 
visited the Gobelin Tapestry manufactories, which 
are owned and carried on by the government, and 
there saw the strange process by which those soft and 
rich colorings are produced. Many years are required 
to complete some of the extensive pictures and car- 
pets we saw in progress, and it would seem that 
none but kings could purchase such expensive lux- 
uries. 

At the "Hotel de Cluny" and the " Palais des 
Thermes," once the residence of the Roman Govern- 
ment of Gaul, is collected a museum of the most 
interesting antiquities to be found in Paris. Old 
Flemish tapestries, ancient armour, carriages, plate, 
and quaint furniture, and a thousand ancient heir- 
looms, all of historical interest, make up such a col- 
lection as can not be seen elsewhere. 



LONDON BY GAS LIGHT. 313 

Having again enjoyed a pleasant ride through the 
Bois de Boulogne, visited Napoleon's tomb at the 
Invalides, and dined at the " Trois Freres," we were 
off for England. We had an opportunity of seeing 
London by gas-light, as we reached there about mid- ,-, 
night ; and as we drove through the streets we could 
see that the eating and drinking houses, the mutton 
pie-shops, and the gin-shops, were in the full hight c 
of their business. The streets were filled with peo- 
ple, the owls and the hats of London life, who, when 
daylight comes, slink away to their holes until dark- 
ness again calls them forth. Finding lodgings at 
the Golden Cross, a very central place, we next 
morning walked down to Westminster Abbey, to see 
the tombs of the great there interred. The tombs 
of Shakspeare, Thomson, Milton, Dryden, Butler, 
Campbell, Gray, Southey, which we saw in " Poets 
corner," interested us much more than the monuments 
of the dead kings, so minutely described by the offi- v 
cious guide at a shilling per visitor. The common 
error seems to have been committed here in quoting 
Shakspeare's own words for his epitaph, of writing 
"wreck" for "rack." We observed upon his monu- 
ment the quotation beginning, 
27 



314 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

" The cloud capp'd towers, etc., 
Shall dissolve, 

And like the baseless fabric of a vision, 
Leave not a wreck behind." 

Dr. Johnson says, Shakspeare wrote " rack " a fleecy 
cloud, which is certainly the better sense. 

The most remarkable monument here is one to 
the wife of " Joseph Gascorgen Nightingale." Death 
in the form of a horrid skeleton, is seen issuing out 
of an open tomb with upright doors, while upon the 
top stands the husband supporting his dying wife in 
his arms, and endeavoring to ward off the unwelcome 
visitor who is advancing to seize her. The statue to 
Geo. Canning, a likeness of him, resembles very 
much Governor Chase of Ohio. A monument or 
tablet to Major Andre, attracted our attention with 
the inscription : " Esteemed by his foes, beloved by 
his friends. Erected by George III." 

The new House of Parliament looks to be exceed- 
ingly badly placed, standing low down upon the 
bank of the Thames. It is also too elaborate 
in its style for the purpose to which it is dedicated 
as well as for the location in which it is placed; 
the front towards the Thames presents what is 
termed quite a gingerbread appearance. 



PARKS OF LONDON. 315 

Hyde Park, St. James, and Regent's Park are all 
greatly inferior to the Bois de Boulogne of Paris. 
We found that fashionable drive of the nobility, 
" Rotten Row," in Hyde Park, (on which no hackney 
or plebian coach is allowed,) a dirty, dry, and disa- 
greeable place. It is claimed by the aristocracy 
that this unaristocratic name is a corruption from 
" Route du Rois," but it is much more likely to have 
come from some old tumble down row of houses 
which may have occupied the spot in years past. 
At all events the name is fixed forever. These 
Parks all lack trees and proper attention, and look 
like great neglected fields, while at Paris every thing- 
is kept in perfect order and there is no restriction 
as to the kind of vehicle that may enter. 

In the National Gallery there is a small collection 
of good pictures on exhibition, amongst which are 
some fine " Murillos," " Rafaelle's," "Claudes," 
"Poussin's," and " Rembrandts." We walked up 
to the " white horse cellar," where Pickwick took 
the stage, with a view of going to Hampton Court, 
where the best paintings are to be seen, but found 
ourselves too late for the coach. The next day we 
visited Windsor Castle, and as we left London fly in a- 
over the tops of the houses and amongst the chim- 



816 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

neys, we were reminded strongly of Santa Claus 
journeying with his presents for the young folk at 
Christmas time. The railroads all enter the city 
through the suburbs upon arches elevated over the 
tops of the houses. We sped along the banks of 
the Thames, which flows by Windsor, but which here 
becomes a quiet winding stream, bordered by over- 
hanging elms and pleasant green banks. The castle 
stands, as all these castles do, upon a commanding 
hight, and its turrets, tower, and battlements are 
the first objects seen as you approach, while the town 
lies clustered around below. After wandering an hour 
through the rooms of the castle, we ascended the 
tower from whence the Halls of Eton can be seen, 
and the plain of Runnymede, where the English 
Barons extorted from King Charles the Second the 
charter of English liberty. The scenery from this 
tower embracing the graceful windings of the Thames, 
is very beautiful indeed. 

Descending we took a carriage and drove to 
" Stoke Pogis " church-yard, where Gray wrote his 
elegy, and where he lies buried side by side with his 
mother, whom he loved so dearly. A simple slab 
marks the spot, with the inscription : " Thomas Gray, 
died July 30, buried Aug. 6, 1771, aged 55 years." 



gray's tomb. 317 

Around on every side "the rude forefathers of the 
hamlet sleep." With great good taste a handsome 
monument, which his " friends and admirers, the 
British nation," have erected to his memory, instead 
of being placed in this humble church-yard, which 
he has consecrated by his genius, has been placed at 
a respectful distance outside the enclosure, "beneath 
a yew tree's trembling shade," where he loved to 
wander alone and meditate. The village church, 
with its pointed gables and spire, is covered with 
ivy, as well as the tomb, and the yard is shaded in 
the deepest green. The whole place breathes of 
poetry. We took a sketch of the church, and de- 
positing a leaf of ivy plucked from the tomb in our 
pocket-book, returned to Windsor. Here we drove 
an hour through the fine park of the castle, where 
the oak of " Heme the hunter " can be seen, as well 
as many other spots made memorable by Shakspeare. 
From thence we returned by the evening train to 
London. The next day, Sunday, hearing that the 
Rev. Mr. Spurgeon was to preach at the Surrey 
Garden at eleven, we sought the old tavern, the 
" Elephant and Castle," which is near, at an early 
hour with a view to secure seats, knowing the crowd 
which usually attends his preaching. We arrived 



818 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

in time and obtained the following card : " No. 23 
Surrey Music Hall, early admission ticket for one 
G person on Lord's clay morning, 8th Aug., 1858," 
which cost twenty-four cents or one shilling. We 
obtained a tolerable seat only in the gallery, as the 
best seats we were told were from a crown to a half 
sovereign each. At eleven the doors were thrown 
open, when the unreserved portion of the house was 
instantly filled by the crowd. There was nothing 
remarkable in his sermon, which was much in the 
Methodist style, and we are confident many as elo- 
quent ones are preached in the United States every 
Sunday. Yet Mr. Spurgeon is an earnest man, and 
the English are unused to hear earnest, zealous 
divines in their pulpits, and hence his popularity; 
he has ready wit, a great flow of language, a pleas- 
ant voice, and good delivery. He preached from 
the 97th Psalm, 10th verse : " Ye that love the Lord 
take heed," and his aim seemed to be to set before 
his flock their own short-comings, which, judging 
from the discourse, were not few. 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 

"Warwick Castle — The Avon — Kenilworth — Guy's cliff legend 
—English landscape — Manchester — Lancashire — Iron region 
— York Minster — Edinboro' — The Castle — John Knox — Holy- 
rood — Stirling Castle — Bannockburn — Grampian hills — Ben 
Lomond — Tarn 0' Shanter — Auldbrig o'doune — Dunipace hills 
— Robert Spital the tailor — Cambusmore — A Highland burn 
— Bridge built for sixteen shillings — Beneledi— The bonny 
Highland heather — Coilantangle ford — The Fiery cross — 
Brigg o' Turk — Legend of Glenfilas — Hotel of the Trosachs. 

As the steamer Africa was to sail from Liver- 
pool for New York on the 21st inst., we at once 
engaged passage on her, as we felt more confidence 
in this ship, as well as the captain, than in any 
other of the Cunard line. Having, therefore, eleven 
days at our disposal, we proposed a brief run through 
Scotland and Ireland, with such portions of England 
as came in our way, before the departure of the 
vessel. We accordingly left London on the 10th for 
Leamington, one of the most fashionable and popular 
watering places in England. We here took a carriage 
and rode out to Warwick Castle, the best preserved 
and most remarkable of all the old Baronial piles of 

(319) 



$ 



820 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

England. It stands perched upon a rocky cliff 
overhanging the classic Avon, which is here seen to 
great advantage from the turrets, winding its grace- 
ful way amongst flowery meads, and spreading 
lawns, towards Stratford, the birthplace of the 
"world's poet," Shakspeare, to whom much more 
than to feudal castles, this river and these localities 
owe the interest with which they are regarded. Im- 
mediately under the castle walls is seen an old 
ruined stone bridge, which formerly connected it 
with the plain beyond the river, its ruined and bro- 
ken arches covered with ivy ; and near by a wooden 
mill, as if in defiance of the feudal towers which 
frown above it and exemplifying the utilitarian 
character of the present, has set the classic stream 
to grinding corn. Both, however, are highly roman- 
tic features in the landscape, though teaching differ- 
ent lessons. 

Within the castle, or rather at the porter's lodge, 
we were shown the giant armour and immense two- 
handed sword and punch bowl of Guy of Warwick, 
who seems to have been a giant of some eight feet in 
hight. Passing into the inner court through an 
avenue cut through the rock, we reached the castle 
which is built upon three sides of a square, and en- 



KENILWORTH. 321 

tered a suit of rooms upon the ground floor, some 
three hundred and thirty three feet in length, shown 
as the state apartments. Here are some good por- 
traits by Vandyke, and some poor pictures by other 
artists, although all claimed by the pompous Cice- 
rone or man in waiting, as veritable Murillo's Grui- 
do's, etc. We saw a fine bust of Proserpine, by 
Powers, and the celebrated Warwick vase. This 
splendid vase is of white marble, seven feet in hight, 
twenty-one feet in circumference, and holds 163 gal- 
lons. It was found at Hadrian's villa, near Tivoli, 
about twelve miles from Rome and is supposed to be 
the work of Lysippus, the famous statuary of Athens. 
We also saw the helmet worn by Oliver Cromwell — 
a very interesting object to us, although some Eng- 
lish people who were present looked with much more 
interest upon the bed, with its hangings, in which 
their august sovereign, Queen Victoria, had slept on 
a recent visit to this castle. 

From Warwick we drove to Kenilworth, just after 
a refreshing shower — one of the most delightful rides 
we ever remember to have enjoyed. The beautiful 
English lawns and parks were hedged in the richest 
green ; spreading elms and oaks bordered the road- 
side, there was not a particle of dust, and the road 
28 



I 



322 NOTES DKAWft AT SIGHT. 

itself was a pleasure to behold, and as level and 
smooth as if rolled. 

The fine old ruins of Kenilworth, all mantled with 
ivy, rendered so interesting by the pen of the author 
of Waverly, are not surpassed, if equalled in interest 
elsewhere in England. They are of the soft, red 
sandsone and rapidly crumbling to decay. We en- 
tered through the great gateway, itself a castle, and 
walked about endeavoring to localize Mervyn's Tower, 
and other places impressed upon our mind by the 
vivid description of Walter Scott. The maiden 
Queen Elizabeth, the courtly Leicester, the infa- 
mous Varney, the servile braggadocio Lambourne, 
and the beautiful, noble, and wronged Amy Robsart — 
all rose up before us and again lived as in the days of 
yore, as we wandered amongst the ruined arches and 
in the tilt yard, and garden, or Pleasance, of this 
interesting spot. On our return we stopped at Guy's 
Cliff to see the cave where " Guy of Warwick J ' re- 
^mained concealed as a hermit for so many years. 
According to ancient tradition he was reported to 
have been killed in one of the crusades, at Palestine ; 
but escaping, he returned incognito and occupied 
this cave near his castle and faithful wife Eelicia. 
His wife often sought counsel of him in his character 



MANCHESTER. 323 

of a religious hermit and doled him alms as a 
" palmer poor," but never dreamed he was her long 
mourned husband until on his death-bed his lips 
were unsealed and he disclosed his real character. 
His countess survived him but a short time, and they 
were both buried in the same grave. 

The beautiful villas, the closely shaved lawns, the 
neatly trimmed hawthorn hedges, and the tasty 
grouping and massing of the trees which we observed 
in our ride during the day, gave us a pretty correct 
idea of what an English landscape is. 

At Manchester we spent a few hours driving 
through the principal streets. The weather had be- 
come English — that is rainy— and the town looked 
gloomy enough. It seemed Pittsburgh on a larger 
and smokier scale. Much of the stone used here 
for building purposes, as well as at Liverpool, resem- 
bles the gray freestone of the Western States, and 
the carvings and ornaments of some of the new 
buildings reminded us very much of the modern im- 
provements in Cincinnati. The older houses, how- 
ever, were black and dingy with the eternal smoke 
of their thousand factories, and the whole city 
presented a dirty appearance. From hence to 
Edinburgh we pressed through the great iron and 



324 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

coal region of Lancashire and Yorkshire. The coun- 
try in all directions was smoking like a great furnace, 
and at night was lighted up for miles around with 
innumerable lurid fires, which seemed to flit by us in 
our rapid passage northward like a giant torch- 
light procession. 

At York we visited the celebrated Minster or 
Cathedral, and were quite astonished to find here in 
.the interior of England, a building vieing in beauty 
of structure and almost in magnitude, with the 
cathedrals at Milan and Cologne. The beautiful 
groupings of its columns, and the delicate fan-like 
tracery of its roof, formed by the graceful curves of 
its arches springing from the head or cap of the 
columns, are not excelled, if equalled by any church 
in Europe. It is an old Catholic structure, built before 
the Reformation, and has been once partly destroyed 
by fire, the work it was supposed of some fanatic, but 
has been twice repaired and is now in fine preservation. 
Such structures, however, seem entirely unfitted for 
pure and simple Christian worship, as they are entirely 

* unsuited for preaching. They are too large to be 
filled by one voice, even if the echoes permitted such 
a use of them. They are beautiful as specimens of 

^ architecture, but useless for Protestant worship. 



EDINBURGH. 326 

We reached Edinburgh, or as the Scotch and 
English call it, Edinboro'. by way of Newcastle on 
Tyne, and Berwick on Tweed. 

Edinboro' is a beautiful and in many parts a clean 
city, and from being built upon a series of hills, with 
valleys between, presents when seen from the hights 
a singularly undulating appearance. We ascended to 
the Castle, which as usual occupies the highest 
ground, and from thence enjoyed a delightful view of 
the city beneath and the lovely valleys which sur- 
round it. At our feet lay the "auld grass market;" 
the hills of Salisbury crags, and Arthur's seat, 
bounded our view to the eastward, with the cottage of 
old David Deans, plainly to be seen — so familiar to 
all who have read the " Heart of Midlothian." A lit- 
tle further to the north, in front of where we stood, 
through High street and the Cannongate, the palace of 
Holyrood was visible, with all its interesting associa- 
tions clustering around it. On our left adorning the 
park in the new part of the city, we beheld the splen- 
did and elaborate monument of freestone erected by 
the citizens of Edinburgh at a cost of some fifteen 
thousand pounds, to the memory of Walter Scott ; 
and near by crowning Carlton hill, and well defined 
against the back ground of a clear blue sky, stood 



326 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

the monument erected to Lord Nelson ; the National 
monument, unfinished, and looking like the ruins of 
Paestum, and the monuments of Playfair the astro- 
nomer and philosopher, and of Dugald Stewart. The 
old Scottish regalia, consisting of crown, scepter, 
and sword, is kept with jealous care encased in an 
iron cage in a room in the castle here, and is shown 
by candle light. The monster gun, " Mons Meg," 
made of banded wrought iron at Mons, in Belgium, 
stands dismantled upon the parapet. It threw stone 
balls about eighteen inches in diameter, some of which 
are still to be seen. Leaving the castle we passed 
down High street to Holyrood. On our way we saw 
the house in which the great reformer, John Knox, 
lived and where he wrote the history of the Refor- 
mation. It was in this house that he so narrowly 
escaped the shot of an assassin. We also passed 
through the Cannongate by the old jail and court 
house, rendered memorable by Scott. Holyrood is 
interesting from its association with the melancholy 
history of the unfortunate Mary, Queen of Scots. 
The spot where Darnley and his associate murderers 
slew Rizzio in the Queen's boudoir, at the head of 
the secret stairs is shown, and even the stains of the 
blood are pretended to be pointed out by the zealous 



STIRLING CASTLE, 827 

guide through the palace, as was done in the days of 
Walter Scott — which is supposed to have given rise 
to his amusing episode in the introduction to the 
Chronicles of the Cannongate, of the " Brummagen 
Bagman and his scouring drops." The bed and fur- 
niture which she occupied, and some worsted work 
made by her own hands, are carefully preserved. We 
looked through these silent rooms with melancholy 
interest, thinking of the eventful life and sad death 
of this beautiful Queen whose history had so deeply 
interested us in our earlier days. The old chapel 
alongside the palace is in ruins, but the palace itself 
is kept in good repair. 

Having taken this hasty look at the interesting 
city of Edinburgh and its lions, our time expired 
and we were forced to leave, although we wished 
much to visit Roslin Castle and Hawthornden, some 
few miles out. Our route from here lay by rail and 
steamboat along the river Forth, the latter affording 
a very beautiful sail, but on nearing Stirling, the 
tide being low, we were all bundled into an open, 
flat bottomed boat in the midst of a shower, and 
dragged up to town some two or three miles by 
horse power, where before we could land we were 
taxed two pence each. This seems to be universal 



828 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

at all the landings in Scotland ; on entering or leav- 
ing the boats you are taxed for the use of the land- 
ing place, and a collector stands on shore to enforce 
the payment. 

Stirling has also its old castle — one of the four 
which England by the act of cession was to keep in 
repair. It, as well as the rest, is now only used for 
barracks for her troops. From its ramparts we en- 
joyed a fine yiew of the field of Bannockburn, where 
Bruce defeated Edward I — the Grampian hills — Ben 
Cleugh — the bridge over the Allan Water — Benledi 
— Benvenue — Dunblane — while at our feet the beauti- 
ful valley through which winds the Forth, lay smil- 
ing in its carpet of green and gold. The sun was 
sinking behind the distant and lofty Ben Lomond, 
looking doubtless as red and rosy as when he in- 
spired in olden time the poet to sing to " Sweet Jes- 
sie the flower of Dunblane." 

Stirling castle has occupied a prominent place in 
Scottish history. Dying at the entrance into the 
Highlands, it has been the scene of many stirring 
incidents in the long and bloody wars which raged 
between the factions and clans of Scotland, the High- 
landers and Lowlanders. Here King James the 
Second slew the Douglas, and threw his body out of 



GRAMPIAN HILLS. 329 

the window of the castle ; and the Romans at an 
earlier period, in their victorious march over Eng- 
land, here encountered the warlike Caledonians, who 
pouring down from the Grampian Hills, under Gal- 
gacus, their prince, gave them battle, on the plains 
of Stirling, and checked their further progress 
northward for the time. The remains of the Roman 
camp are still to be seen near the castle. We were 
entertained in truly royal style at the Royal Hotel 
at Stirling, and the next morning took post on the 
top of a coach bound through the Highlands, the 
better to enjoy the scenery ; with fourteen passen- 
gers outside and nine inside. 

Amongst the idlers collected around the coach, 
the starting of which in these interior towns is like 
the sailing of a steamship, or the departure of the 
lightning train, the event of the day, we observed a 
little boy suffering under a spinal disease, who we 
learned from our communicative " Sawney " on the 
box, was the son of a very poor widow. The little 
fellow stood aloof, leaning against a fence, with, but 
evidently not of, the crowd. His patient and sad 
face telling of poverty and suffering, reminded us so 
strongly of a little sufferer we had left at home, that 
we called him forward and put a few small coins into 



830 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

his hat. Instantly the sympathy of John Bull was 
aroused within and without the coach-— for John is 
v' generous, and proud as he is generous — though 
sometimes needing a little prompting. He likes, too, 
to scold the pauper for being poor, and the lame and 
wretched for being so, but always follows it by a 
liberal donation: but above all he dislikes to be 
thought uncharitable. What ! to be outdone in gen- 
erosity, in charity, on his own heath, to his own sub- 
jects — and that, too, by Brother Jonathan — by a 
passing Yankee ! Never ! " Come hither boy ;" 

t$and the contents of deep pockets were suddenly 
brought forth and deposited in that little hat ; 
more than one fair hand, too, was seen emptying 
the contents of eager purses therein out of the coach 
windows, until the little bossu's hat-crown was liter- 
ally covered with silver. This sudden and astound- 
ing turn of the wheel of Fortune in favor of the 
little mendicant so overwhelmed him that he could 
neither speak his thanks nor make _ a motion, but 

.?., stood looking in blank astonishment, first at the 
coach and then at the coin, and occasionally casting 
a glance up to the blue heavens above, wondering, 
apparently, if it were not all a dream. The whole 
affair was the impulse of a moment, but was so 



OLD BRIG 0' DOUNE. 331 

touching, and the act so appropriate, and the charity 
clearly so worthily bestowed, that when at last the 
little invalid's gratitude found expression in a flood 
of tears, every heart was moved ; and as the coach 
drove away, the unanimous drawing of bandannas b 
from capacious pockets and applying to eyes and 
nose, showed that the heart of John Bull was not 
insensible to sympathy. 

On approaching the " Auld Brig o' Doune," we 
observed several wooded eminences rising symetri- 
cally from the plain called Dunipace hills, and re- 
sembling very much the Indian Mounds in America, 
though on a larger scale. They are supposed by 
some to be artificial formations, made by the ancient 
Britons as monuments over their dead kings. They 
are composed of gravel and earth, and although sev- 
eral theories have been started in regard to them, 
this seems as reasonable as any other. They are of 
a kind quite numerous in Scotland, and some writers 
think they have been caused by glaciers, others that 
they have been left by the subsidence of vast lakes 
which they suppose may have covered the country in 
ancient times. From their close resemblance, how- 
ever, to our Indian Mounds in shape, we incline to 
the artificial theory. 



332 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

We crossed the Auld brig o' Doune, a substantial 
stone arch bridge, renowned as the scene of Tarn 
O'Shanter's ride, and as we passed over we looked 
hard for the " key stane," where Tarn's grey mare, 
" Maggie," lost her tail in her faithful efforts to con- 
vey her master beyond the reach of the witches. 

"Now do thy speedy utmost, Meg, 
And win the key stane of the brig; 
There at them thou thy tail may toss, 
A running stream they dare na cross. 
But ere the key stane she could make, 
The fient a tail she had to shake ; 
For Nannie far before the rest 
Hard upon noble Maggie prest, 
And flew at Tarn wi furious ettle, 
But little wist she Maggie's mettle. 
Ae spring brought off her master hale, 
But left behind her ain grey tail ; 
The carlin claught her by the rump, 
And left poor Maggie scarce a stump." 

Reaching the opposite side we stopped a moment 
to read a tablet impannelled in one of the parapets, 
which sets forth that this bridge was founded and 
built by one Robert Spital, in the year of God, 1535, 
" tailor to the most noble Princess Margaret," of 
of England, who became the Queen of James IV, 



CAMBUSMORE. 333 

King of Scotland. Along with this recital he boldly 
affixes the sign manual of his profession carved in 
the stone, a pair of shears. 

All honor to thee, noble tailor ! who with more 
energy and ability than thy fellows, hast thus handed 
down thy name with thy good deeds to posterity ! 
Greater than warriors art thou, "Robert Spital," in 
the opinion of all true men ; and greatest when fear- 
less of the world's scorn thou acknowledgest and 
honorest thine humble craft ! The kings and the 
princes who looked down upon thee, are forgotten 
or known but in history, while thy name is pro- 
nounced with blessings by the wayfaring man daily. 
" So shines a good deed in a naughty world." 

Above the humble tailor's bridge frowns the old 
feudal castle of the " Murdochs/' of which, according 
to Waverly, " Donald Stewart " was, in olden time, 
governor. It is now roofless and in ruins — -a majes- 
tic pile, with square towers and turrets, and embat- 
tled walls, and with the Teith flowing at its foot, 
forms a beautiful feature in the landscape. A short 
distance beyond we passed the early home of Sir 
Walter Scott, Cambusmore. It was while dwell- 
ing here in his early youth, and hearing recounted 
the many stories and traditions which abound in this 



£34 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

locality that his imagination was excited and his taste 
formed, which, matured by travel through the pic- 
turesque scenery of the Scottish Highlands, was in 
after years to impress and delight all who speak 
the English tongue. 

Shortly after leaving Cambusmore we crossed the 
Kelty, a wild highland torrent, which comes rush- 
ing down to join the Teith, and at times, when 
swelled with the rains, becomes a very formidable 
stream. A few miles above, it forms the cascade, 
renowned as " Bracklin's thundering wave," where 
it comes leaping from a cliff of red sandstone, a true 
"Highland burn," and to which the fair Helen com- 
pared Roderick Dhu. 

Every hill and valley in Scotland is rife with 
legends, many of them yet unwritten, and the ready 
wit of the Scotch is not slow to furnish one to order 
when occasion demands. Crossing a small and rude 
stone bridge in one of our rambles, we inquired of 
an old man whom we encountered what "brig" it 
was. He gave us a name which we now forget, and 
asked us if we knew who built it. We acknowledged 
our ignorance, when he informed us that it was built 
bj an old shepherd for " saxteen shillens " — sixteen 
shillings? you must be mistaken, old man, we re- 



BENLEDI. 88& 

plied, that would not buy the stone that is in it, 
" Ah ! " said he, "he paid not a bawbee for the 
stone— he carried them from the burn yonder, in his 
apron, and built the ' brig ? for saxteen skillens, 
and guaranteed it to last till domesday" The 
guarantee bids fair certainly to be made good, for 
the " brig/' after several hundred years service? 
seems as sound as when the shepherd completed his 
contract. 

Benledi, the "hill of God, 7 ' the ancient moun- 
tain of the heathen worship of Bael or Bel, towered 
above tis, clothed in its royal robe of purple heather? 
as we wound along the Teith and over the substan- 
tial stone arch bridge at the little town of Callen- 
der. Evidences of the old rites and ceremonies 
performed here are still visible it is said in the stone 
altars to be seen upon the mountain top and in 
the inscriptions upon the rocks. These mountains- 
possess a peculiar charm in the beautiful and delicate 
purple garment with which nature clothes them at 
this season of the year. Seen at a short distance? 
as we saw them, their varied dyes illuminated and 
rendered more brilliant by a bright afternoon sun? 
they formed a picture exceedingly lovely and fully 
justifying the raptures with which we have often 



836 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

heard "Auld Scotia's sons" describe their mountains 
clothed in the bonny Highland heather. 

But all is not gold that glitters, as he will find to 
his cost who attempts the ascent of these mountains 
without the aid of an experienced guide. Every 
where along their lower portions bogs occur, into 
which the unwary rambler may sink without hope of 
escape. These bogs usually cover a spring of water, 
and being a smooth green sward, are very tempting 
spots to the tired climber, but through which he may 
sink to unknown depths. 

From Callander we followed up the stream to the 
" Coilantogle ford," at the foot of " Loch Venachar." 
This is the spot to which Roderick Dhu, in the Lady 
of the Lake, pledged his faith to conduct the stranger, 
scaithless, to the frontiers of his dominions — 

"Far past clan Alpine's outmost guard." 
It was here he challenged the king Fitz James to 
single combat, having fulfilled his pledge, and con- 
ducted him beyond the danger of attack from his 
own band. It was at the upper end of the lake at 
Duncraggen, some five miles back, that Roderick 
had called, "from shingles gray" and "bracken 
bush," " bonnets and spears, and bended bows," by 
his shrill whistle. 



337 

Here at Duneraggen was the great clan Alpine 
gathering ground; the huts are still visible half 
hidden in the copse. This was the first stage where 
the bearer of the fiery cross sent to call the clans 
to revenge or war, consigned his bloody symbol to 
the next messenger to be forwarded on with fresh 
speed to other clans farther north. 

" Fast as the fatal symbol flies, 
In arms the huts and hamlets rise; 
From winding glen — from upland brown, 
They poured each hardy tenant down." 

The fiery cross was the Scottish "wampum belt," 
sent round to the clans to call them together and 
unite them in war. It was made by tying two pieces 
of wood together in the form of a cross, the ends 
were burned and extinguished in the blood of an 
animal, thus symbolical of fire and sword. 

Beyond this point we crossed the "Brig of Turk," 
where that "lone horseman" rode after the battle, 
of which he was the sole survivor of the foremost 
rank — all of which is duly recorded in the "Lady of 
the Lake," as well as upon a sign-board hard by. 

"And when the Brig of Turk was won, 
The headmost horseman rode alone." 

29 



338 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

We stood for some time leaning upon the parapet of 
the bridge waiting for the coach and gazing up the 
valley of " Glenfinlas," whose wild legends have been 
so often woven into story and song. This is the 
outlet of Loch Katrine, and is a dark, savage glen, 
upon whose banks, as is recorded in the story of the 
" Glenfinlas," dwelt the proud " Glengyle," whose 
towers o'erhang the angry flood. Two hunters find 
shelter from a storm in a cave hard by the castle, 
one of whom speaks boastingly of beguiling one of 
the fair daughters of Glengyle, the " fairest of the 
mountain maids," and with more courage than dis- 
cretion starts to carry his boast into execution. On 
the way he meets 

" An huntress maid in beauty bright, 
All dripping wet her robes of green." 

and is himself beguiled by her beauty; and finally 
torn to pieces by fiends, his mangled limbs and a 
shower of blood falling around. His comrade, who 
is a seer, and therefore armed against all the blan- 
dishments of the fiend, fortifies himself with orisons 
and escapes. 

Again taking our seat on the coach we passed in 
a few minutes the Hotel of the Trosachs, a singular 



HOTEL OF THE TROSACHS. 339 

structure for a hotel, being a regularly built castle 
with towers, casemates, loopholes, etc., and with 
a name that would strike terror into the bosom of 
an enemy; and frighten a traveler, too, we should 
suppose, if there be any correspondence between the 
length of the name and the bill. It is Ard-chean- 
o-chro-chean, and it seems well patronized by the 
English tourists. 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

The Trosachs — Loch Katrine — Ellen's Isle — Ben-ledi — Ben-a' 
an — Benvenue — Coir-nan Uriskin — Beal-ach-nam-bo — Braes 
of Balquidder — Loch Lomond— Inversnaid — Rob Boy — Ben 
Lomond — The McGregors — Dumbarton Castle — Glasgow — 
John Knox — Burking — Salt Market — Clyde — Belfast — Ire- 
land — The Low back'd Car — The Omadhauns— Giant's Cause- 
way — Ossian — Dunluce Castle — Dublin — Lord Palmerston — 
Conway Castle — Chester — The Bows — Statue of Nelson — 
Departure — Conclusion. 

* 'Where twined the path in shadow hid, 
Round many a rocky pyramid, 
Shooting abruptly from the dell, 

Its thunder splinter' d pinnacle. 

# * « « 
The rocky summits split and rent, 

Formed turret, dome, or battlement. 

* * * * 

Nor were those earth born castles bare, 
Nor lack'd they many a banner fair; 
For from their shiver' d brows display'd 
Far o'er the unfathomable glade, 
All twinkling with the dewdrops sheen, 
The briar-rose fell in streamers green ; 
And creeping shrubs, of thousand dyes, 
Waved in the west wind's summer sighs." 
( 340 ) 



LOCH KATRINE. 341 

Thus Scott describes the Trosachs, the Alps of 
Scotland, which, for wild and beautiful scenery, are 
not equalled elsewhere in the three kingdoms, nor 
indeed in Europe, unless it be in Switzerland. 

Entering a narrow pass or defile, which could be de- 
fended by a handful of men against an army — between 
a perfect chaos of contorted and jagged cliffs of 
mica slate, though festooned with exuberant foilage, 
we soon reached the head of Loch Katrine. It 
appears here a deep, narrow arm amongst the moun- 
tains, clear and glassy, and seen from the hills as 
you approach, looks hardly large enough to float 
an Indian canoe. A small steamer awaited us, 
and with a hundred others, we embarked and went 
steaming down the Loch. We felt as if commit- 
ting a sacrilege in passing by steam through these 
quiet waters and interesting scenes, hallowed as they 
are by their poetic associations. Here lay " Ellen's 
Isle,' ? which surely should not be approached save in 
a "shallop." 

To the eastward towered Ben Lodi; nearer Ben 
a' an showed its bare summit, resembling the Alpine 
Aiguilles, while to the southward rose the noble 
Benvenue dressed in Tyrian dye, with its outline 
and its corries and crags, finely graduated and soft- 



842 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

ened by distance ; and its famous " Coir-nan-ITris- 
kin," or " Goblins Cave," just visible from the deck 
of the steamer. We also saw the terrace or natural 
pass along the side of Benvenue, the " Beal-ach- 
nam-bo," where Douglas, retreating with his daughter 
Ellen, is followed by King James, from which flows 
the tragic events of the story of the Lady of the 
Lake, where 

"The mountain maiden showed 
A clambering, unsuspected road, 
That winded through the tangled screen, 
And open'd on a narrow green, 
Where weeping birch and willow round, 
With their long fibres swept the ground." 

These interesting spots appealed to us strongly 
for a more close inspection ; but steam is inexorable, 
and we could only cast a lingering look behind, as 
we glided swiftly away. At the head of the lake 
are the "Braes of Balquidder ;" and " Glengyle," an 
old possession of the McGregor family, lies upon the 
stream which here empties into it. 

Again taking coach we rode five miles over to 
Inversnaid, upon Loch Lomond, the place where 
Rob Boy parted with Frank Osbaldistone, and 
Bailie Nicoi Jarvie. It was near this spot that 



LOCH LOMOND. 848 

the chief seat of the McGregors was situated, and 
Rob Roy always hailed from Inversnaid. He con- 
cealed himself in a cave near by on the bank of 
Loch Lomond, during the latter part of his career, 
near the mountains of Glenfalloch. A mountain 
torrent or Highland burn, comes leaping over the 
cliffs in several beautiful cascades, and falls into the 
loch at this place, forming a pleasant feature in 
the scenery. 

On taking steam again to descend Loch Lomond, 
we pass close to the fort of Ben Lomond, the 
loftiest of the Highland chain, being 3190 feet above 
the sea. The view from its summit is said to be 
very fine over the Grampian hills to the westward, 
and the lakes spread out around it at its foot ; and 
but little if any inferior to the view from the Rigi, 
in Switzerland. Some fine villas adorn the banks of 
this beautiful lake ; one owned formerly by Lord 
Jeffries opposite Ben Lomond, where he loved to 
retire from the cares and troubles incident to his 
high position, and which he speaks of in his letters 
as a most delightful spot. The lake widens out as 
it extends southward, and nestles in its bosom about 
thirty islands. Some of them are very pretty, and 
the largest, Inch Caillach, was the burial place of 



844 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

the McGregors. There are ruins on some of them 
still to be seen, probably of old monasteries which 
were said to have existed here in olden time. We 
saw, however, neither floating islands, finless fish, 
nor waves without wind, all of which are claimed 
by most veritable tradition to belong to Loch Lo- 
mond, but like many other of the old Scottish 
legends, will not bear investigation. 

From Balloch at the foot of the lake, we took the 
cars for Glasgow, passing an humble monument 
to the great historian, Smollett, before reaching 
Dunbarton. He lies buried in an obscure spot near 
the village of Benton, " by the world forgot. " At 
Dunbarton, the castle, or what is left of it, forms a 
conspicuous object. It stands upon a rocky prom- 
ontory 560 feet in height, which juts out isolated 
into the river Clyde. This castle dates back for its 
origin to the old Roman times of the Maetse. Dun- 
barton was once the Alclwyd, the capital of the 
small aboriginal kingdom of Strath clyde, the last of 
whose kings was "E wen the Bald." * * * * 

Glasgow is an active, thriving city. We spent 
the Sabbath here, and found the churches well filled. 
The contrast between the simple and evidently heart- 
felt worship, so much like our own country, of the 



BURKING. 345 

Presbyterian and Congregational churches which we 
attended, and the imposing, though hollow, Catholic 
ceremonies which we had so long witnessed in Italy 
and France was very refreshing, and we felt that we 
were once more in a country where private judgment 
under the clear light of the gospel, led the people in 
the paths of holiness and peace. 

In the afternoon we ascended an eminence near 
the Cathedral, overlooking a great part of the city, 
and on which is the principal cemetery. We here 
saw a beautiful monument to John Knox and other 
noble reformers, whose names are engraven upon it. 
Around the yard of the Cathedral we observed sev- 
eral structures of iron precisely like the jails 
which we see manufactured in Cincinnati for a 
" Southern market," with iron door, massive pad- 
lock, etc. They are erected over and around the 
burial lots of different families to prevent " burk- 
ing," admitting the air and sun to penetrate to the 
flowers and grass within. They look very disagree- 
able and prison-like ; but if such hyenas as Burke 
and Hare, who plied at Edinburgh their nefarious 
traffic sometime back, are to be found at Glasgow, 
they may be necessary. 

We passed the next morning through the " Salt 



846 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

Market/' on our way to the steamer for Belfast, and 
we fancied we saw many old "Bailie Nicol Jarvies" 
in the substantial and firm looking merchants whom 
we met on Change and along the streets. The Clyde 
is very narrow for many miles below Glasgow — not 
half the width of the Ohio—and it seemed a mys , 
tery to us how so large an amount of business could 
be transacted through so narrow a channel. The 
stream was filled with tugs and shipping, and the 
shores lined with massive iron steamers in process 
of construction, for which the Clyde has become 
world-renowned. 

Threading our way through the maze of vessels 
which covered the water, we reached "Greenock," 
where the steamer stops to take on those who prefer 
to come thus far by rail ; which being accomplished 
we were soon at sea, upon the Irish Channel : the 
evening drum beat from Dunbar ton^s Castle, sound- 
ing in our ears as we glided swiftly by its frowning 
cliffs. *-< ■ * <;'■ -.fv. - 1 . ?, . * .,*..*.. .* 

Belfast is a beautiful city, having a fine roomy 
Bay or " Lough,*' fifteen miles long and from three 
to six broad ; and although ranking second to Dub- 
lin, really exceeds it in its manufactures and trade. 
It lies at the mouth of the "Lagan" river, where it 



347 



falls into the " Lough," in a fine situation amongst 
hills, which rise near by into a mountain peak 1500 
feet in height, It is altogether one of the most 
pleasant cities in Ireland, and is distinguished for 
its literary and scientific institutions, and abounds in 
schools and societies for the promotion of education 
as well as of arts and letters. Here we took the 
rail for Portrush, on the extreme northern coast 
of Ireland, and the most convenient point from 
whence to visit the Giant's Causeway, which we 
had in view. The country through which we passed 
seemed well cultivated, the cottages comfortable and 
no evidences of the wretchedness which prevails in 
the southern part of Ireland. 

At Portrush we took a jaunting, or " low back'd 
car," the popular conveyance in Ireland — an open 
omnibus set on springs — ON which the passengers 
sit back to back, facing outward, and are propell- 
ed crabwise. From this 'perch we enjoyed a fine 
view of the rugged coast during the ten miles drive 
to the Causeway, and " Paddy " put us through 
in good time under the promise of an extra shilling, 
entertaining us along the way with original descrip- 
tions of important localities, and guarding us against 
being taken in by the " omadhauns," whom we would 



348 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

find at the Causeway offering to take us in their old 
boats, saying they were not the " riglars," — that the 
"riglar" guides and best boats we would find at 
the Hotel. He was evidently an interested party 
in the employment of the Hotel, and the last admoni- 
tion we received from Paddy on leaving his car, 
was to "stick till the riglars, your 'onor." However, 
having become by this time tolerably expert in the 
art of sight-seeing, in the best possible manner, and 
at the lowest possible price, we proceeded to investi- 
gate and found that the "riglars" demanded ten 
shillings for an hour's row in a poor boat, and the 
" omadhauns " only five, with the decided advantage 
of a larger and better craft. This decided us in 
favor of the latter. Whereupon the " riglars " 
abated fifty, then seventy-five per cent. ; but for 
the benefit of future tourists and to encourage com- 
petition, we patronized the opposition line: com- 
petion is healthy anywhere, but particularly at such 
places. These remarkable basaltic cliffs and bold 
headlands are best seen from a boat, and the caves 
are only accessible by water. The cliffs all show 
the same columnar structure; but the Causeway 
proper consists of a low reef running out into the 
sea, composed of columns closely fitted together, and 



ossian. 349 

on the top or surface of which you walk as over a 
tile floor, and not through or amongst the detached 
columns, as we had supposed from the engravings 
and paintings we had seen. In this respect we were 
somewhat disappointed; but the formation is very 
remarkable and well worth a visit. The reef is 
about 800 or 900 feet in length and 300 wide, and 
made up of about 40,000 columns of dark basalt ; 
generally upright and regular, mostly five or six 
sided, whilst some have only three and others as 
many as nine sides, but all closely fitted together. 
The surface is even — the highest point being about 
thirty feet above the water, and sloping down into 
it. The rocks around here are all named after some 
fancied resemblance, which it required a considerable 
stretch of the imagination to realize. The " organ," 
the "priest and his flock," the "nursing baby," etc. 
Having sufficiently examined this curious forma- 
tion and rowed through the deep caves, into which 
the sea rushes with great violence when driven by 
storms, compressing the air and causing such terri- 
ble howlings as to frighten the inhabitants, we re- 
turned to Port-rush. This was the home of Os- 
sian, and doubtless these wild scenes, together with 
the strange legends which the superstitious character 



350 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

of the Irish people has attached to them, inspired 
his pen and produced the most dreamy, mystical and 
peculiar poems that the world has ever seen. He 
lies buried near the chief haunt of his hero, " Fin 
MeCoul," at Layde church, near Curhendall, a few 
miles to the eastward of the Causeway ; although it 
is claimed by some that he is buried in Scotland at 
Glenalmond. of which spot Wordsworth writes : 

" In this still place, remote from men, 
Sleeps Ossian in the narrow glen." 

But the Irish insist, and with very good show of 
authority, that his body lies at Layde church. 

On our return we passed the ruins of Dunluce 
Castle, formerly the seat of the McDonnells. It 
stands upon a wild rock jutting out into the sea, 
around whose base the waves dash and spend their 
fury in vain. It was originally entered by a draw- 
bridge of considerable length, which is now rotted 
away, and the explorer is forced to climb the face c. 
a steep precipice at the risk of a broken neck if he 
wishes to look at the last stronghold of the McDon- 
nells. 

Ac Port-Stewart we passed the native place of Dr. 
Adam Clarke, the great commentator. The school 



DUBLIN. 



351 



founded by Dr. Clarke at Portrush is still maintained 
with success. From hence we returned through Bel- 
fast to Dublin, where we spent a few hours in riding 
about the city and Park. Dublin lies upon both 
sides of the river Liifey — in the Irish tongue, " Dew- 
3in," or black river, a dark and dirty looking stream 
which flows through it. It very much resembles 
Glasgow in its general appearance, especially about 
the river, which is spanned as at Glasgow by several 
stone bridges connecting the two segments of the 
city ; and although it possesses a larger population 
than Belfast, is inferior to it both in manufactures 
and commerce. 

The Liffey enters the bay near the city, and from 
the Hill of Howth a fine view is obtained over it, em- 
bracing the field of Clontorf, where Brian Boroimhe 
beat the Danes in 1014. From Dublin we returned 
by steamer to Holyhead, and observing on board a 
very plain, though marked old man, walking the 
deck, dressed in a well worn green surtout, having 
a cape, we inquired his name and were informed 
it was Lord Palmerston, the ex-premier of England, 
who was just returning from a visit to his Irish 
estates in Sligo. On our way from Holljhead to 
Liverpool we crossed the celebrated tubular bridge 



352 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT, 

over the Me-nai straits at apparently full speed, and 
stopped to visit the ruins of Conway castle, in Wales. 
Conway is a singular old town, probably the only 
one in England wholly within its ancient walls. 
The castle was built in 1284 by King Edward the I 
to check the frequent revolts of the Welsh. Richard 
the II, when he returned from Ireland in 1399, took 
refuge in this castle, and here agreed with the Earl 
of Northumberland and the Archbishop of Canter- 
bury, to resign the crown to the duke of Lancaster. 
Erom this circumstance arose the desolating civil 
wars of the " Hoses" with which the country was afflic- 
ted for so many years. But time is stronger than 
fortresses, and this fine old feudal castle is now but 
a heap of ivy-covered ruins. As we wandered 
around its overgrown walls, the jocund laugh of 
maidens and gallants gay came up from the courts 
below, where kings once trod and empires had been 
signed away; reminding us how little, after all, the 
living cared for the dead past. The locomotive 
whistle, however, called us to the present and we 
were soon again whirling along at a rate those old, 
feudal* fogies never dreamed of, towards the ancient 
Roman, now Welsh town of Chester. This is also a 
famous old walled town on the river Dee, built 



rows. 353 

square, the walls still remaining. It was called 
Dena by the Romans, and Chester by the Saxons, 
probably from " castram," a camp — this being a 
camp previous to Agricola's invasion of Scotland, and 
the head-quarters of the twentieth Roman legion. 
The Roman mode of fortification is still evident from 
the round towers in the walls. One of the finest 
stone bridges that we have ever seen, here spans the 
Dee with a single arch. The span is two hundred 
feet with a rise of only forty, and we do not 
know that it is equalled elswhere in the world. In 
some of the principal business streets there are rows 
of shops in the second story. You ascend to a cov- 
ered pavement by steps, where there seems to be 
quite as much traffic and as many passing as below. 
These are called u rows " in the language of the 
town, and as all kinds of merchandise are here dis- 
played and the competition great, it is a favorite shop- 
ping place for the citizens, especially in stormy 
weather. A plan similar to this has been suggested 
as a means of relieving Broadway, New York, of the 
increasing crowd which throng its pavements. Tak- 
ing the cars again we reached Liverpool, ready for 
our sea voyage homewards. There is nothing of 
great interest to be seen here ; but, passing the 



354 NOTES DRAWN AT SIGHT. 

exchange with a friend, we observed in front of 
it a bronze monument erected to Lord Nelson. 
Four naked figures in chains were seated around the 
base of the column, while standing upon it is a 
statue, we suppose intended for Lord Nelson, crowned 
with a wreath. The whole, at a short distance, 
however, looked so much like royalty crowned, and 
the people in chains, that we could not help pointing 
it out, to the great indignation of our English friend 
who accompanied us and who believes England to be 
the freest nation in the world. "Ah!" said he, 
" you Americans when you come to Europe can see 
nothing but tyranny, hear nothing but treason, and 
feel nothing but chains ; upon the subject of liberty 
you are monomaniacs !" So much for the opinion of 
a loyal Englishman. 

At the Queen's Hotel we again met the American 
friends with whom we had traveled upon the continent 
and who were to be our companions upon the Africa 
on our homeward bound voyage. We also found on 
board the ship, our friend Mr. S. Wilson, of Cincinnati, 
Mr. S. Ranlett, of St. Louis, and Mr. Bryant and 
family of New York, and others, making a very agree- 
able and pleasant party for the two weeks of prison 
-S life we were doomed to lead. We had light head 



MAR 2 4 1950 



CONCLUSION. 355 

winds all the way over, although the weather was fair, 
and we arrived in New York on the twelfth day. We 
were delighted to place our foot once more upon our 
native shore, although we had derived great pleasure 
and profit from our brief summer excursion. 

With the "Cosmopolite" we can say, " The universe 
is a species of book, of which one has read but the 
first page when one has but seen his own country." 

To appreciate the blessings of one's own, it is 
necessary to see the evils and annoyances of a for- | 
eign land ; and no one spending five months on the 
continent of Europe but returns to America a better, 
if not a wiser patriot. If we have derived no other 
benefit from our tour than a greater devotion to, and 
love of our native land, we shall regret neither the 
expense nor the fatigue. 



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